


You Break It, You Buy It

by MahTohSka



Category: Ghostbusters (Comics)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Magical Artifacts, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-10 07:18:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17421485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MahTohSka/pseuds/MahTohSka
Summary: What is the price for breaking an ancient artifact?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea rooting around and wasn't sure how to make a good plot out of it. MorganSkye has been a HUGE help, and I thank her for being my beta! She helped me with the plot and I took it and ran with it!

“Gloria, where’s that report? It should’ve come in two weeks ago!” 

“It hasn’t come in, Mr. Peck! I keep calling them, but they haven’t answered!”

“It was supposed to be a simple cargo inspection how could they have possibly fucked it up?” Walter muttered to himself, tensing his hand around a pencil, thumb to the point of snapping it in half. He grumbled, rising to grab his coat. “Why must I do everything myself?”

Janine didn’t bother looking up when she heard the door slam in a familiar way and footsteps marching in the same rhythm she’s heard dozens of times to know Walter Peck was here to berate, and get into a subsequent pissing contest with Dr. Venkman. However, for the latter, there was a complication. 

“Ms. Melnitz, would you care to tell me why I am missing a report file on the cargo shipment from Italy?” Walter had his hands on his hips. “Need I remind you it has been two weeks since I was notified of the whereabouts of those idiots, and _no one_ , not even you, who I thought was competent enough to _at least_ send something to me, bothered to tell me about the results of it.” 

“Are you finished?” Janine stared over the top of her glasses with her usual annoyed glare. 

“That’s only half of it!”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Janine rose to her feet, leaning forward on her desk. “You’ve been receiving the usual case reports from that time ‘til now, I’ve filed them myself and sent them to you, the list of the artifacts from Italy was extensive and they are still working on it.” While, yes, it was a long list, only a fraction of that statement was a lie. “There is no reason for you to have your goddamn panties in a bunch over a minor inconvenience. So, you can go back to your ivory tower and …”

“OKAY, BOYS, GO GET IT!” came a loud shout from above. First came the sound of a ball being bounced on the hard flooring, then a scatter of what sounded like claws, then a soft rumble of what Walter assumed would have been rather large dogs heading for the stairs. Large they were, but dogs they weren’t. The ball was reaching the bottom, Walter’s eyes almost jumped out his head when he saw a dark brown wolf with shades of grey or light brown lose his footing towards the landing, causing the two behind to crash into him. The wolf bringing up the rear was mostly black with tints of dark brown in his fur, nearly falling victim to the dog pile and skirted around them. 

The tennis ball’s bouncing ended once it got to the main floor, rolling two feet away from Walter. The tinted black wolf nearly rolling himself in retrieving the ball caught it, scampering over to the stairway; Kylie had followed behind them, the three piled wolves picking themselves up and gathered around her, the black wolf with the tennis ball in his mouth trotted to Kylie with his tail wagging. 

“Good boy!” She reached for the ball, but the wolf wasn’t letting go. “C’mon, give it,” she gave a warning tone, the wolf gave a playful growl. “Don’t puncture it! C’mon, give!” With a couple little tugs, the wolf finally released the ball, wet with saliva.

“What the hell is going on here?!” All eyes on the stairs turned to the source. Kylie’s grin dropped to shock and horror to see Walter Peck, bewildered and horrified. “Are those … wolves, Ms. Griffin?!” The four wolves took a keen interest in the new human, Walter started backing up, eyes wide in terror as he saw them approach. “No, no, get away …” He tripped over himself, landing on the ground, soon wet noses and even wetter tongues started invading his personal bubble. Walter scrambled up to his feet, pushing the large canids away from him as best he could. 

“No! Bad dogs, all of you! Bad dogs!” The wolves backed off, the dark brown who tripped on the stair earlier gave Walter the saddest eyes he has ever seen, the other three weren’t so puppy eyes with the human. A brown wolf with lighter shades underneath gave a groan, getting up on his hind legs, his front paws resting on Peck’s shoulders; the second the wolf started to slobber licks all over Walter’s face, the human pushed the wolf down, staring at it straight in the eyes after wiping his face clean best he could. 

“Especially you,” Walter snarled, pointing a threatening finger. “Bad dog.” 

A gentle nudge on his leg made Peck look down to see the darker brown wolf stare up at him with puppy dog eyes, giving a series of soft whines. Walter could see something different about the wolf’s eyes, there was a color differentiation in them – one brown, one green; it struck him as odd, he wasn’t quite sure if wolves could have heterochromia. His stern stare continued, hoping the wolf would leave him alone; however, he could swear he’s seen eyes like that before on someone he knew … 

“Oh my god, just pet him already! The tension and suspense are killing me!” Kylie exclaimed. 

Peck glanced up, finding Kylie sitting on the bottom steps facing him, a pitch black wolf with no color tints laid beside her. He made note of that one plus the other black wolf with tints of dark brown having a lie down rather close to Janine. Walter gave one last hard stare at the brown wolf with tan shades, giving out a heavy sigh through his nose and reluctantly patted the dark brown wolf on the head. 

“Now leave me alone,” he told it. The wolf obliged, joining Kylie and the black wolf. Walter turned his attention to Janine. “If we can get back to matter at … hand …” 

The brown wolf who had licked him earlier lied down in front of Peck, its head laying right on top of Walter’s right foot. The wolf gave his nose a quick lick and a sigh, Walter glared down at the animal, but it refused to move. Something was extremely familiar and unnerving with the way each of the wolves’ fur resembled hair color of people he knew, on top of how each of them acted. Walter ran a hand down his face, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. 

“Ms. Melnitz … Ms. Griffin …,” as if not wanting to ask the obvious, it had to come out, “are …,” he put his hand down, placing both hands on his hips, glancing about the four wolves, “judging by how both of you seem so nonchalant and tolerable of these …” he gestured to the canines with a hand, “flea bags …”

“Oh, I’m tolerable, alright,” Janine had her eyes in a magazine, her free hand scratching and petting the head of the black tinted wolf who was now sitting up and had his chin on the desk. “And we know what you’re trying to ask us.”

“And? Quite frankly, I demand to know the answer. What the hell did these idiots do to make themselves like this?” 

 

**Two weeks ago**

A local museum had received a shipment of artifacts from Italy, but learning from past experiences of pieces of antiquity harboring supernatural spirits and haunting the place, giving the Ghostbusters a quick call to check them out before they arrived at the museum was proven the right thing. List in hand, they parked outside the warehouse the cargo was held in. 

“Large Roman collection on here,” Ray mentioned as they walked inside. He dug around in a breast pocket for papers. “I made copies for each of us. Take a box, anything comes at us, blast it.”

“Within reason, that is,” Egon took a list. “We’ve had nearly every museum sue us for damage.”

“Hey, their fault for purchasing a slab of rock that brought almost brought about the apocalypse,” Peter was the first inside the warehouse. “They should all be thanking us.”

The cargo was stashed towards the back of the building, four large crates placed in a semi-circle; each man opened them, rifling through the hay and other packaging materials. Almost an hour of searching, nothing peculiar came up. 

“I’m getting clear readings on everything in mine,” Egon noted.

“Looks clean to me,” Winston shut his crate. 

“Hang on … this doesn’t look to be on the list,” Ray picked up a bronze wolf head sculpture. It was nearly nine inches in length, the wolf’s mouth open, the featured brows drawn together. Ray’s furrowed his brow, something else caught his eye in the crate. “This, too.” Handling the wolf head in one hand, he picked up a small bound book; the cover was plain but severely worn out from years of exposure, some water damage on the pages. Opening the book, the spine cracked to a page written in Latin. Ray squinted his eyes on the words, starting to speak them aloud however butchering the Latin language. He gave a soft grumble, turning around to face the guys. 

“Hey, Spengsy, wanna help with this?” Ray continued to completely mispronounce the waterlogged Latin, the air around them becoming heavy as the wolf head began to crack, a purple light forming along the lines. 

“Uh, Ray …”

He had finished the incantation, however wrongly pronounced; Ray looked to see the bronze sculpture in his hand was cracking at a rapid pace. 

“Oh, shi-.”

The wolf head combusted when the pressure was too great, a light enveloped the four men; the blast made the shelving and windows rattle, the shockwave was concentrated in the six foot radius the Ghostbusters stood in. Each of them were on the ground when the light vanished and the tremor stopped; Ray was knocked out cold once the wolf head exploded, Winton was closest to him and went out like a light. Egon tried to reach for the book but succumbed to heavy exhaustion that befell them all. 

“Guys … I don’t … feel so good …” Peter mumbled, attempting to stand but collapsed. 

 

Winston was the first to crack open his eyes, vision blurred; he felt hands remove his pack subsequently taking his boots and jumpsuit off. He wasn’t sure how long they had been out, his looked to his comrades only to find them as he was now, stripped of their packs and suits. A hooded figure moved about them, picked up the shards of the wolf head, giving a sigh and said something Winston couldn’t fully hear. The figure noticed one of the men was awake, he knelt beside Winston, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

“Sleep, dear friend,” the voice told him. Winston fought to stay awake as the figure got up and walked away with the fragments; exhaustion was overpowering him, eyelids heavy. The Ghostbuster was losing the fight, diving once more into the unconscious realm. 

Peter groaned awake, feeling weird all over; as his vision cleared, he sat up, a series of whines sounding from him. He wasn’t himself physically, and neither were the others – each of them had transformed into a wolf. Freaking out due to not being able to talk or walk as he would, Peter’s wolf mind went primal, becoming angered and began to lash out at Ray. Stantz was startled awake by growling and a scrawny figure crashing down on him, he yelped, trying to fight back and discovered he couldn’t due to his form. He whimpered, backing away from Peter who was on the rampage for being turned into a wolf thanks to Ray. 

Winston and Egon were awakened by the sounds; their shock at their new bodies came and went, they had to stop Peter from killing Ray. Winston skirted behind Peter, latching onto a leg, Egon put his jaws around Venkman’s throat, twisting his body to force Peter on the ground. Winston let go, seeing how Spengler literally had Peter by the throat. Egon’s growls matched Peter’s in volume, if anyone was by the door at the other end, they could hear them; when Venkman tried to get up Spengler tightened his grip, snarls in a crescendo. Peter stayed put, knowing it was futile to break free, his growls faltering to silence. He was the smallest of the group and with Egon’s larger body looming over him, not to mention the man, or wolf, had him pinned. 

Spengler quieted himself, giving Peter another minute to cool off before releasing his jaws from the brown wolf. Winston had been giving comforting licks to any small bites Peter gave Ray; Egon gave one last glance at Venkman, the latter putting his belly up in submission (though his human mind protested to it, he’s supposed to be the leader). Spengler gave a short growl, licking his maw and joined Ray and Winston. The dark brown wolf was seated by the crates, head placed between his paws, giving soft whimpers. Winston and Egon stared at each other, deep down their human side couldn’t gain control over the rising contention between them; Ray already submitted himself the closer Spengler got, Winston’s wolf mind making him stand his ground. 

_‘I don’t know if you can hear me, Egon. I’m trying hard to keep this body from challenging you. And I’m sure you don’t want to fight me,’_ Winston’s human mind was speaking to the void it was in. Primal urges to challenge and claim the alpha spot overpowered him, the pitch black wolf snarled, bristling his fur. 

The black wolf with dark brown tints answered back, puffing his fur out in dominance and aggression. Spengler charged, Winston met him halfway, the two wolves snapping and biting at each other; inside the depths, Winston made another attempt to gain control, pushing through the invisible wall. Success was made, he backed down from the fight his new form was engaged in. Spengler saw Winston back off, conceding to the fight; a yelp sounded to his right, Peter was back at it with nipping and biting at Ray. 

_‘You did this to us! Look at us, Ray! We’re goddamn mangy wolves!’_

_‘Peter! Please! I’m sorry! I didn’t know the spell affected the bust!’_

Spengler snarled loudly, stepping between Peter and Ray, standing protective over the whimpering wolf. _‘Venkman, enough! You lashing out like this will help nothing!’_

_‘Look at us, Egon! It’s all Ray’s fault! He just had to read from that damn book, even if he completely butchered it.’_

_‘We all weren’t aware that the spell Ray recited had an effect on the bronze head, Venkman. Not only that, those seemed to be the only two items not listed.’_ The black tinted and brown colored wolves continued to snarl at each other. Winston could’ve sworn he heard Peter and Egon’s voices, the darker black wolf moved closer to the two. 

_‘Guys, can you hear me? Seems like we got a mental link going on on some kind of level.’_

Both Peter and Egon ceased their snarling, looking to Winston. Peter huffed, backing down from Spengler, sulking by one of the crates. 

_‘If we ever change back to our normal selves, I will bitch slap you, Ray.’_

_‘C’mon, Pete, enough. Are you done?’_ Winston looked to Venkman.

 _‘For now.’_ Peter laid down, resting his chin on a paw.

 _‘Despite our current canid forms, it appears we are able to communicate like we would if we were human.’_ The black wolf turned to give a licks to any infliction the darker brown wolf was given. _‘However, not completely in control of our actions. We became two separate entities when the changes happened.’_

 _‘But I was able to break through to stop myself from fighting you, Egon.’_ Winston laid down next to Ray who repositioned himself into a resting pose. 

_‘Perhaps there are brief moments where we can reach through, merge and work as one, given situations needed for such occasions.’_ Egon started to pace about the circle of crates, sniffing the corners and reached up to see inside. _‘The more we are acclimated to these forms and their functions, we can learn to harness basic instincts and keep control of ourselves.’_

_‘So, what do we do?’_ Peter huffed. 

_‘Keep calm. Adapt.’_ Egon dropped back down on all fours. He found his glasses where he laid before, gingerly picking them up with his teeth. _‘We need to get back to the firehouse.’_

 _‘Who the hell made you leader?’_ Peter raised his head. 

A deep growl rose from Spengler. _‘You did.’_ He started walking away to look for a back entrance. _‘By submission.’_

 _‘Which I wanna take back, by the way.’_ Peter got up and trotted after him. His comment made the black wolf with dark brown highlights turn and snarl at him, fur bristling in dominance. _‘You know, what? Maybe not. I’ll submit.’_

Winston and Ray rose, following the others close behind. 

_‘Man, the power dynamics between you two right now … it’s like a flip was switched.’_ Winston strolled past Venkman, becoming second behind the alpha. 

_‘It’s quite funny, actually.’_ Ray brought up the rear. 

_‘At least I’m not low man on the hierarchy.’_ Peter started to trot after Winston and Spengler. Ray got next to Peter, snarling and grabbing at Venkman’s throat; the two brown wolves tussled it out in the alley of crates, Ray having the advantage due to his size, winning over Peter. _‘Aw, c’mon, what is this?!’_ The lighter brown wolf submitted to the darker one, Venkman grumbling to himself as Ray caught up with two black wolves, the brown colored wolf with tan highlights ultimately becoming the omega of the pack. 

Egon found the back door, getting up to press down on the door handle, thankfully unlocked. They must have been out for hours; it was afternoon when they first got there, it was night when they stepped out of the warehouse. The four wolves kept themselves hidden as they trekked the way back to Tribeca and the firehouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more in depth description of the guys' fur colors:
> 
> Ray is dark brown with high contrast of grey and tan, some white  
> Peter is reddish brown with little contrast of some black, brown  
> Egon is black that in most light has highlights of dark brown   
> Winston is all black, no color contrast or highlights of anything


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faceclaim for Apollo is Tom Hiddleston

“I had Kylie go back to the warehouse to retrieve everything after it was established these were the guys. The look in their eyes and Egon carrying his glasses were a giveaway, she got it right the moment she saw them.” Janine gestured to Kylie who had three wolves napping by her; Ray’s head was in her lap, Winston and Egon flanked her sides. Peter was still napping by Walter but thankfully moved to a different spot; Peck rubbed his face, not believing that he actually sat through that. 

“They’re goddamn animals, how could you have been relayed this information?” 

“Scrabble tiles,” Kylie answered, casually petting the dark brown wolf. 

“Oh, dear god,” Peck muttered under his breath, now rubbing his face with both hands. “So, who has been taking the cases while these halfwits are bumbling around like the dumb animals they are?”

As if on cue, the Ecto-1 pulled into the garage. The sound of the engine rumbling woke the wolves, the four creatures rose and trotted over to greet FBI agent Melanie Ortiz and Bryan ‘Rookie’ Welsh of the Chicago branch who have stepped out from the hearse. 

“Hey, guys!” Rookie was greeted by wagging tails and wet kisses from the wolves, ruffling furry cheeks and bodies as he walked along to the desk. “Bust went pretty successful.” He held up the smoking trap, the four wolves delicately sniffing it. “Well, for me and Mel, anyway.”

Stepping out from the back, drenched in slime, was Ron, a permanent frown stuck to his face. Mel tried to hide her laughter as he got out, trying to shake the slime off him.

“Ron, be the distraction, they said, draw it out from hiding, they said,” Ron grumbled to himself. “Wish they told me this shit doesn’t wash off easily, I got slime from three days ago still on me.” 

“That means the ghost likes you, cabrón,” Mel teased at him. 

“That better mean something nice,” Ron muttered. He pointed a finger at the small pack of wolves gathered around Kylie. “Those assholes are responsible for this, if one of them hadn’t been stupid enough …” He was met warning growls from the pack, Ron took a timid step back, mind and body in a fight-or-flight mode. Mostly flight.

“Boys, heel,” Janine barked at them. The four wolves calmed down, quickly ignoring Ron. She turned to Walter. “Does that answer all your questions? As you can see, we have plenty of help.”

“Just one more, Ms. Melnitz. When can this debacle be fixed? My mind is running rings around itself to explain to the mayor that the four men I unfortunately associate myself with are a pack of mangy, flea ridden furballs. What if something like Gozer happens while these slobbering behemoths are still incapacitated?” Walter gestured to the four back up Ghostbusters. “These people can’t stand up to something on that scale.”

“I think you underestimate our resources, Mr. Peck,” Mel stepped towards him. “Mr. Welsh and Mr. Alexander are fully capable, although the latter could use improvement on his social attitude.” There was a small ‘hey’ from the Chicago Ghostbuster changing out of his jumpsuit. “And Ms. Griffin and I have shown multiple times we are able to handle extreme situations.” The four wolves now crowded around her, Mel leaned down to rub the sides of Peter’s face. “When these four were taken by the Collectors and held in some supernatural limbo for three months, who took on the cases?” She straightened herself, rubbing Ray’s side as he stood by her. “Don’t think we aren’t prepared to deal with something on the lines of Gozer.”

“And I’ve been searching every corner of the city for the fragments of the bronze sculpture,” Kylie leaned against the landing rail. “So far, I’ve only found one. Who knows how many are left out there.”

“And if we need more people, Dani and Lou are up for anything,” Bryan added his two cents. “Not to mention, they have the portal downstairs.”

“I think that would be for emergency use only,” Janine mentioned to him.

Walter shook his head, throwing his hands in the air. “Fine! Fine.” He lowered them. “Ms. Griffin, see to it that the fragments are found soon.” Walter waved a dismissive hand. “The rest of you carry on. I’m done here.”

“Who’s ready for walkies?” Kylie called out, getting the attention of the four wolves. Their tails started to wag, Kylie grabbed four collars from her pack. “Care to join me, Mel?”

“Walkies? You do know they’re your bosses,” Mel raised a brow. 

“I know, but just like any normal dog they need exercise, right?” Kylie fixed the collars, hooking the leads to them. “Here, you take Dr. Venkman and Winston, I’ll take Ray and Dr. Spengler.”

“I feel so sorry for you guys,” Mel told Peter and Winston as she followed Kylie out of the firehouse. 

 

It was a rather strange sight, seeing two people have four wolves on leashes, but this was New York. Mel and Kylie walked the wolves over to Central Park, the four canids keeping in line with them; as the two part time Ghostbusters began with small talk, there was another conversation happening on the mental plane between the leashed beasts. 

_‘How long are we going to be like this? This is humiliating.’_

_‘Hey, man, Kylie’s trying her best, she only found the first piece last night.’_

_‘I sniffed it to see if I can get a good trail on it, but nothing’s clicked.’_

_‘Ever the Boy Scout, Ray.’_

_‘There is a confusing trail, no clear scent on the fragment. There must be something working against us to recover the missing pieces.’_

_‘Which could spell bad news for us, wouldn’t it, Spengsy.’_ Peter huffed. 

_‘Very. If they’re not found in time … we could be like this forever.’_

_‘I don’t like that pause, Egon.’_ Winston glanced over to him. 

_‘I’ve been uneasy the past two days. It was only for a good hour, but even on this plane I forgot who I was. I fear as time goes on, we will all lose sense and identity of our human selves. We have to act quickly. Raymond and I will examine the fragment when we return.’_

_‘I’ll help on that, too. I don’t wanna be stuck like this forever, let alone forget who I am.’_ Winston brought his tail up, giving it a couple wags before coming down.

_‘Despite the negatives, I’m enjoying these walks.’_

“They seem to be taking all this pretty well … I hope,” Mel noted as they turned to walk into the park.

“From what they tell me. The Scrabbles tiles are the only medium for them to communicate to Janine and I. Ray rooted around the closet in the living room for them,” Kylie paused their walk to fluff and rub the sides of darker brown wolf. “And you were such a smart boy for doing that, yes you were.” She turned her attention to Egon, keeping the cutesy voice. “And you helped, didn’t you? Yes, you did.” She alternately ruffled their cheeks. “You two are smart boys, aren’t you?”

Both wolves had their tails wagging, jumping up to cover Kylie’s face with wolf kisses. Mel watched on in faint horror at the scene before her, but she’s seen weirder things working out in the desert back in New Mexico. She heard a groan to her right, Winston was looking up at her, his tail faintly wagging, eyes pleading for a scratch. The FBI agent hesitated for a moment – she works with them, for Pete’s sake. Seems weird to treat colleagues she respects like a normal pet. She drew a deep sigh. 

“What’s the worse that could come of this?” she exhaled, indulging and rubbed the top of Winston’s head. “Satisfied?” The pitch black wolf gave a little sneeze, Mel giggled to herself at the display. 

“C’mon, boys, let’s keep going,” Kylie started to walk, Ray and Egon caught up with her, keeping in stride; Mel and the two other wolves walked perpendicular with them.

_‘I wanna know what possessed you to read from that book, Ray. Just couldn’t keep your mitts off it, could you?’_

_‘You still hung up about this? You’re not letting things go so easily, are you?’_ Ray glanced over to Peter.

 _‘Ray. Look at us. I’ve never been more humiliated in my life. It’s your fault we got into this.’_ Peter gave a low growl, the four wolves stopping in their tracks; the humans walking them gave wary glances at each other. 

_‘Venkman, enough.’_ Spengler took a step forward, growling at Peter. _‘We need to stay calm and work on recovering the fragments.’_

 _‘I don’t have the patience to stay calm, Egon!’_ Peter raised his growl, his lips curling into a snarl. The black wolf with brown highlights bristled his fur, snapping his jaws in a loud growl. 

“Hey! Knock it off, you two! Peter quit antagonizing everyone,” Kylie scolded the two wolves, giving a quick jerk on Spengler’s lead.

“My, what fascinating creatures you have there,” a male voice interrupted them, the two wolves quieting themselves. All eyes settled on a tall man with wavy red hair neatly coifed and faint stubble, handsome features and intense blue eyes. He was dressed in a sharp blue suit, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “Are they timber wolves?” Thrown off for a second, Kylie gave a nod. “Were they raised by hand? I couldn’t help but notice them.”

“And you are?” Mel took a step forward, taking charge of the situation. 

“No need for a defensive tone in front of a stranger,” the man straightened his tie. “Apollo Edwards.”

“Charmed. Listen, Mr. Edwards, we’re just walking them for a friend …”

 _‘Does this guy give anyone weird vibes?’_ Peter inquired as Mel and the stranger talked.

 _‘I’m feeling it, too. It’s faint, but it’s … it’s like we know him.’_

_‘Same, Ray. But I’m not liking him one bit.’_

_‘He’s the one.’_ Spengler gave a low growl. Edwards, Mel and Kylie saw Egon take two steps forward, his growls rising. The red haired man perked a corner of his eyebrow, setting his hands on his thighs, leaning down. 

“Seems this one is a bit feral,” Edwards noted. _‘I know who you are,’_ he telepathically spoke to the wolves. 

“He’s … not usually like this,” Kylie cautiously reaching down to rub the black wolf’s side. “It’s okay, boy.”

 _‘What do you mean he’s the one, Egon? Talk to us. This guy apparently knows who we are, and he’s starting to creep me out.’_ Peter took a timid step back. 

_‘He’s the one obstructing the trails to the fragments. I recognize his scent.’_

_‘Clever one, you are,’_ Edwards straightened himself. He turned his attention to Kylie and Mel. “There’s usually a danger to raising wild animals, perhaps your friend should release them into the wild.”

“I don’t think that’s possible …,” Kylie held onto her leads tighter. 

The black tinted wolf caught a whiff of the same scent in the air but in a different location, his head and ears perked in the very direction. He broke off the lead, charging off across the grass; soon the rest of the wolves took off, leaving Kylie and Mel to run after them. Edwards stayed put, deeply breathed through his nose as he watched the two women run after the four wolves he needed. 

“Give it time,” he muttered, turning to stroll the park. 

_‘Egon! Talk to us! What was all that about?’_ Winston was close behind Spengler, Ray came in third, Peter was just behind Stantz as they dashed through Midtown Manhattan and headed north. 

_‘I tracked down another piece! It matches Edwards’ scent!’_

_‘Can we talk about him for a quick sec? The man looked like he wanted us for something.’_

_‘Later, Venkman! Right now, we need to hunt down the fragment!’_ Egon led them through Harlem and across the river to the east side of New York City. The black wolf stopping now and then, sniffing the air and ground, the trail still hot; he took a turn to traverse along the East River. Spengler crawled to a halt on the shores, the wolf panting heavily. He whined, letting out a short bark. The trail ahead was across the water to Rikers Island, the only way in and out was the road. Four wolves in broad daylight wandering the shores of the prison complex? They were bound to be spotted for sure, and animal controlled called on them, or worse …


	3. Chapter 3

“What got into Dr. Spengler?” Mel asked, her and Kylie paused on the sidewalk, out of breath. They were standing outside the park gates in the north section, cars bustling by as people walked around them. 

“I don’t know, but,” Kylie pulled out a GPS. “This should tell us where they ran off to.”

“You … got them microchipped?” Mel was almost horrified. “Kylie, they’re humans! And your bosses. If they find out …”

“They won’t. Janine and I kept it a secret, made it seem like a regular visit to the vet.” She felt Mel’s judgmental stare weighing down on her. “Hey, we needed a way to know where they are should they run off suddenly.” She glanced down at the screen. “It was Janine’s idea.” The tracker blipped to life, showing four dots on the screen. “They’re by the East River! Near Rikers Island!”

“The prison? Why would they …”

“I got a pretty good idea why,” Kylie ran to the edge of the sidewalk, hailing down a cab.

 

_‘It’s either get shot, or taken to a zoo, which frankly I wouldn’t want to be caught dead there like this.’_ Peter came up beside the black tinted wolf, panting. 

_‘It’s so close, I’m practically vibrating!’_ Ray gave a few whines. 

_‘Anyone wanna go for a swim?’_

_‘In the East River? No, thanks, Winston, I’ll pass.’_ Peter licked his nose, continuing to pant.

_‘We can try to swim under the bridge to avoid detection.’_ The black wolf paced about the shoreline.

_‘What if it’s in one of the buildings – WAIT!’_ Ray snapped his head to the right, sniffing the air bit. _‘I … I think I found it!’_ The dark brown with gray tints trotted closer to the water, nose to the ground; the black with brown highlights followed suit, getting a more accurate scent. The two wolves were joined by Winston, Peter didn’t dare venture from where he stood, keeping look out. Ray stopped just underneath the bridge, pawing at the ground. 

_‘He must’ve buried it!’_ Ray began dig at the mud, Spengler got his paws wet standing in the water across from Stantz, the three wolves worked to get a regular hole any dog would dig to bury a bone; the deeper they dug, the bigger the hole got. Egon dug into the mud where he stood, his paw felt something hard. 

_‘I found it!’_ The black wolf dug around the artifact, seeing the patina of the bronze caused Egon to throw his head back and howl. 

_‘Did you find it?’_ Peter telepathically called out to them. Spengler freed it little by little, delicately placing it in his mouth, trotting back up to where Peter stood. The fragment was gently put on the ground, the four wolves howling in triumph of the find. 

 

“We’re getting close, they’re still at the river,” Kylie informed Mel as the cab driver drove like a maniac per Kylie’s panicked instruction. “Almost there … stop the cab!” The brakes screeched to a halt, the passengers being rocked about the vehicle, Agent Ortiz nearly getting car sick. “We’ll get out and walk from here.” She handed the cabbie whatever cash she had on her, leaping out of the cab. 

“C’mon!”

Mel mumbled a curse in Spanish, climbing out of the vehicle and followed Kylie down to the shore line. The sound of howls came to their ears, they spotted four wolves crowding around something; the closer they drew, Kylie saw it was a fragment of the sculpture, eyes lighting up at the sight of it. 

“Good boys! You found another fragment! You are such good boys!” she ran at them, the wolves spotted Kylie coming towards them, they greeted her with wagging tails and bodies, showering her with licks and wolf kisses. She ruffled their coats, still cooing in her cutesy voice, praising them; Mel was still taken aback by the display, she sighed, walking to the artifact and picked it up. 

“How many more do you think we’ll need to find?” she asked, turning it over in her hands a couple times. 

“Aw, jeez, Egon, you stink a little,” she shielded her face as the black with brown tinted wolf shook himself of the river water, Kylie brought her attention back to Mel, “I’m not quite sure, to be honest. Not the answer we both want to hear, but it’s all I got. I asked them when they got back, Ray said he didn’t know, neither does Dr. Spengler.” 

“We better rendezvous and team up to find the rest,” Mel cleaned off what mud there was on the piece of bronze, holding it for safe keeping. She approached the pack, taking Peter and Winston’s leads. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“You are taking a bath, first, then we’re going to have a little chat about your attitude towards that Edwards guy, mister,” Kylie addressed the black wolf with brown highlights, taking the leads of Ray and Egon in hand, the six trekking back by foot and cab to the firehouse. 

That night saw a full house at headquarters, they weren’t expecting Peck to be there when Mel and Kylie got back with the four wolves who were once human. Egon eyed him the closer they got, giving a small growl audible enough for Kylie to tug on his lead. Walter drew his brows together in a subtle way, unsure if it was fear or confusion in his eyes as he watched the black tinted wolf get escorted upstairs; Mel was handed Ray once Kylie disappeared upstairs with the wet wolf. 

“Come to insult us more, Mr. Peck?” Mel took the leads and collars off the drier wolves, all three shaking themselves and gave brief tail wags. 

“I’m here in case none of you have the wherewithal or common sense to call animal control if these mangy idiots start something,” came his response, the three wolves who were Ghostbusters in their human form gave Peck their best annoyed glares if wolves could pull off the look. 

“Actually, we could use you,” Melanie approached him. “Another member to help find the missing pieces. Or at least pull strings and have a city wide search with a canine unit.” 

Walter looked to Mel with a deadpan expression of not giving a single care. “What makes you think I’m willing to help, Agent Ortiz,” he crossed his arms, his tone matching his face. 

“Well, you sounded so worried with your panties in a knot over the Ghostbusters being turned into wolves, and doubted that Misters Welsh, Alexander and myself were capable of professionally handling cases …,”

“I didn’t say Venkman and his cohorts do their jobs professionally,” Walter muttered.

“You are the head of the commission and should be responsible for taking care of those you oversee is what I’m trying to get across to you, cabrón,” Mel sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Whether you like them or not, Mr. Peck, they are your responsibility. And right now, they need us.”

“If Jenny weren’t in the containment unit, she’d knock more sense into you, too,” Janine mentioned to Walter. The darker brown wolf had been sitting by her while Mel and Walter jousted, giving a short whine at Jenny’s name. “She said you seemed awfully concerned about the boys when we traveled into different dimensions.”

The light brown wolf had strolled over to Walter, laying down by his right side, his head on the ground between his paws, the pitch black wolf sat upright next to Mel, giving a faint groan. Peck glanced over at the dark brown wolf at the desk, back it again with the puppy dog eyes; he rolled his eyes, deeply sighing, and gave his head a faint bow.

“Fine.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that,” Mel leaned forward.

“I’ll see what I can do! Happy?” Peck shot an annoyed glare at her. All three wolves rushed at him, jumping up and giving him wolf kisses, the human not enjoying this one bit as he stood still in seething annoyance.

Upstairs in the bath, Rookie was assisting Kylie in cleaning the smelly wolf that was Dr. Egon Spengler in human form. They paused for a moment when Kylie made a mohawk out of the fur and foam on Spengler’s head, with Rookie taking a snapshot of it, Kylie with a big smile and the black wolf looking embarrassed. Once the stench was gone and the fur cleaned, Spengler jumped out of the tub, shaking the excess off himself as Rookie and Kylie shielded themselves with the towels used to help dry the wolf. When the wolf thought he was done, he took two steps before Bryan closed the bathroom door; the black wolf groaned, taking two steps back. 

“Are you going to behave now? No growling at strangers and Mr. Peck?” Kylie gave the wolf a warning stare. 

The wolf bowed his head, gaze glancing right and tried to pull off puppy dog eyes at them. 

“Is there something you need to tell us? Anything we should be concerned about?”

The wolf’s head and ears perked up, giving a few small groans and a faint, short bark that came out sounding like ‘boof’. He ran to the door, pawing at it and near the doorknob, softly whining. Kylie and Bryan exchanged glances at each other, the latter opening the door as Egon burst through, running to grab the Scrabble Tiles. A small howl was heard upstairs, running a shiver down Walter’s spine as he shot his gaze to the firepole opening. He wasn’t quite sure why he was spooked by a simple howl, it was deep and a little haunting, though it came from a man Walter nearly had his life taken by when he first met them. He saw the other three wolves give the same howl before running up the stairs.

“Guys! Dr. Spengler needs us up here!” came Kylie’s voice from the firepole. 

_‘Egon, you should’ve seen Peck when you called, he looked ready to run and piss his pants.’_ Peter gave his alpha a couple licks under the chin, rolling over in submission, getting a short growl from Spengler. The light brown wolf quickly got up, trotting around the living room before rejoining. 

_‘You finally going to explain to us why you almost mauled that Edwards guy?’_ Winston pulled up to Egon’s right, sitting upright. 

_‘We need to relay what we all felt when we met Mr. Edwards, and my theory on not finding the pieces in time.’_

_‘He gave off the weirdest vibes, I don’t know if anyone else felt it, but I felt like I belonged to him, a_ very strong _connection.’_ Ray was the last to join, laying down just behind Egon’s left. 

_‘As did I.’_

_‘Egon, not you, too …’_ Peter groaned. The other three looked to him. _‘I mean, I did get creepy vibes from him but not like a cult following that you two have.’_

_‘It’s nothing like that!’_ Ray sat up, groaning at Peter.

_‘It’s difficult to explain. I worry it’s only going to get stronger the more we’re like this. There’s an urgent sense of ownership from Mr. Edwards that I felt a strong attachment to, albeit for a moment before I snapped out of it.’_

_‘Better lay it on them then, Spengs.’_

Kylie took the large bag of Scrabble tiles out, dumping the contents on the ground, facing up any letters that were turned facing down. Everyone there gathered in a semi-circle, though Walter strayed a little behind the group.

“Okay, boy, tell us. Why did you growl at Mr. Edwards?” Kylie sat crossed legged across from Spengler. The wolf went to work pawing out tiles to spell short answers to save time and for the simplicity.

‘EDWARDS BAD’

“Why is he bad?”

“I didn’t get a friendly vibe off him when we were talking in the park today,” Mel noted. 

Egon pawed at more letters. ‘OBSTRUCT FRAGMENTS’

“Edwards is obstructing the fragments? How?” Kylie leaned forward, forearms resting on her knees.

‘NO TRAIL BLOCKS SCENT’

“Ray was trying to detect a trail when I found the first piece, but he couldn’t get anything,” Kylie added. “But you found a scent for the second fragment … you got it because Mr. Edwards had that same trace. So, you’re saying he’s got something spooky going on about him.”

‘YES’

Ray came up, pawing at the tiles. ‘CHECK NAME APOLLO’

“Will do, boss. Anything thing else you want to explain why Edwards is bad?”

The four wolves looked to each before Spengler pawed the tiles. ‘US DETECT BOND TO HIM’ 

Everyone except Peck furrowed their brows. “Can you maybe explain in simple words?” Kylie inquired. 

Egon groaned, giving a soft whine. It would be difficult to correlate in the state he was in, however he pushed through. He placed a paw by the words Ray spelled out, adding the words ‘CHECK APOLLO WOLF’. Kylie made mental notes to check for any correlation between Apollo and wolves. 

“And how are you guys coping?” Janine asked. “You’ve been like this for three weeks.” 

_‘Should we answer that individually?’_ Winston sat up. _‘I’m doing alright, but it sounds like the rest of you aren’t doing too hot.’_

_‘I agree with Winston.’_ Ray gave a small woof. 

One by one each wolf gave his answer. Winston spelled out ‘I AM FINE’, Peter with ‘OKAY’, Ray answered ‘UNSURE BUT OKAY’, Spengler took a moment to gauge his mental well being as of today. He finally replied with ‘QUESTIONABLE’. There was a faint heaviness in the air after the last reply. Mel felt a small twinge of pain in her heart, Janine looked ready to explode with the way she was concentrated on Egon the entire time. 

“Dr. Spengler,” Kylie dropped her voice, deep concern in her tone and facial expression, “is there something we should be worried about that’s related between you guys and the bronze wolf head?” 

The black wolf with brown tints subtly bowed his head, a series of short whines from him caused the party, including Peck, to immediately be concerned about the seriousness of the situation. This new information jumped the worry level to maximum, Janine’s heart dropped into her stomach, Kylie felt her chest tighten. Spengler cleared the tiles to spell out ‘US WOLF FOREVER IF PIECES NOT FOUND IN TIME’. 

“What else?”

The slate was cleared. The wolf’s paws working to answer, ‘POSSIBLE MENTAL CHANGE IN RELATION TO LONGER PERIOD IN WOLF FORM’.

_‘What happened to short answers, Spengs?’_

_‘Would you prefer if I write a doctoral dissertation, Venkman?’_

“How bad is it?” Kylie didn’t want to ask, but it came out. 

The tiles were cleared to simply read ‘BAD’. 

Kylie’s chest tightened more. “This isn’t good at all. We need to act fast.”

“Knowing Egon, when he says it’s bad, it’s bad,” Janine came and knelt in front of Egon, hugging the wolf best she could, and tight. The black wolf rested his head on her shoulder, leaning it against hers. “Oh, Egon …”

“God help us all,” Peck muttered, a crack in his usual stern façade showed and it earned him stares. 

“I’ll call Dani and Lou right now,” Rookie brought up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faceclaim for Artemis is Emily Blunt
> 
> The two whistles Apollo uses I pulled from two things: the first whistle comes from an old WWII anti-Axis stop motion short, the second whistle is the one you hear at the very beginning of the Westside Story Overture

Apollo trekked down the bustling Time Square area, pausing now and then at the bright lights of the square; he marveled how far humanity has come, the technologies they had developed, vast cities of metal and glass across the country and the world. He deeply breathed through his nose, turning away from the bright lights and ventured to the comfort of a penthouse he acquired through his own means. He unlocked the door and saw someone Apollo never expected once he stepped inside.

“Hello, sister,” he gave an acknowledging nod, shutting the door behind him. “I wasn’t expecting you for another week or two.”

“And I was expecting you to have them ready,” a woman of chestnut brown hair took a step forward, crossing her arms. 

“There … was a complication, but I’ve taken care of it.” Apollo sat on the sofa facing the window that gave a wide view of the city. He rubbed his eyes with his hands, bringing them down at his sides. “The artifact broke into pieces, apparently one of them misread the spell, but I’ve hidden them.”

“And if they find them?”

“Not with the time frame they have. One is definitely starting to turn, the others are nearly there. Their companions, or associates, won’t be able to find the missing fragments in time, by then it’ll be too late for them.”

“You do realize once the wolf head is put back together, and a binding spell is put on it to make it whole again, they’ll change back, dear brother.” She sat next to her brother, propping her elbow up on the back rest of the sofa and laying her head in her hand. 

“Then we will have to wait another century before it is put back together, dear Artemis. By then, these ‘Ghostbusters’ will be far past the point of return.”

“Yes … I recognize that name now. They had capture two of my hunting wolves,” Artemis had a faint frown on her lips, setting herself to sit forward. “I require two of these ‘Ghostbusters’ to take their place.”

“It shall be done, sister,” Apollo gave a short nod. “I have already selected the two who shall be by my side as protectors and messengers. I was careful in choosing our quarry this time, though they hunt prey on a more paranormal level, they have shown to be mighty and diligent in their line of work.”

“That is why you chose them? You think they are worthy to be at our sides?”

“Of course, dear sister. They have taken down foes that match our level of greatness, mere mortal men who show they can defeat a god are worthy to us, to me.” Apollo paused, turning his head towards Artemis. “Do you trust me, my sister?”

“I place my trust in you always, dear brother,” Artemis flashed her brother a knowing grin. “I shall return in a fortnight to retrieve my replacements.”

“Very well, sister.” Apollo turned his head to look out at the fading night sky, a ‘whoosh’ of sound indicated his sister had left in the blink of an eye. He sighed deeply through his nose, slouching in his seat, letting his head rest against the back of the sofa, subsequently closing his eyes. “Give it time. They shall be ours.”

 

“How would we know if they aren’t who they are anymore? Would they remember who we are? They’re not gonna run off, are they?”

“You are asking the wrong person for this,” Mel told Rookie as they finished up a job in Chinatown, hauling the traps out of the basement of a trinket shop.

“I wouldn’t mind them running away, I’ll be damn glad when they do,” Ron put his pack in the hearse. “Move back here and run the business for myself.”

“Good luck getting through Janine with that, cabrón,” Mel got in the driver’s seat. 

“I’m just worried about how much time we have,” Rookie got in the passenger seat after putting the traps away, there was a faint slump in his shoulders. “They’re … they’re mentors and I look up to them. I’d hate to see them get lost to this curse.”

“I think you’re missing ‘father figure’ to that list, but on second thought they’re not exactly the type,” Ron sneered from the backseat.

Mel and Rookie shot Ron a glare, turning to face forward and ignore him the rest of the ride. 

“I’m worried as well, Bryan, but we need to remain focused,” Mel pulled out onto the main streets heading back to Tribeca. “Kylie and Janine are out on a search with Stantz and Dr. Spengler. I managed to get Peck out there with Peter.” There came a groan from the backseat. “And Winston wanted to hop along in case he picks up something.” 

“Will you tell him to stop staring at me,” Ron called from the back. “I can’t tell if he wants to tear me apart or … wants to tear me apart.” The pitch black wolf gave a little growl, seeming to enjoy making Ron nearly piss himself. The passenger windows in back were open, the wolf suddenly caught a scent, running to the window where Ron was seated, sticking his head out of it. 

“Get the hell off me, you mangy mutt!” Ron exclaimed. 

“Did he get something?!” Rookie rolled down his window and looked up to see Winston ready to jump out. “Ms. Ortiz, pull over! I think Winston caught a scent!”

“Get the leash out and go with him, keep your radio on,” Mel pulled Ecto-1 over. “I’ll follow you.” 

Bryan grabbed a tactical dog harness from the front seat, getting Winston into it once the pair were out of the hearse. The wolf was giving a series of whines, head pointing in the direction he needed to go. 

“Now, take it easy,” Rookie attached the leash on the harness, the wolf sniffing the ground to clarify the smell and was locked on it, releasing a howl before taking off. Bryan could’ve sworn his shoulder was dislocated. 

Across town in Chelsea, Kylie and Janine had two eager wolves in tow, Kylie handling Ray and the PKE meter in hand. A howl rang out among the car honks and other noises of New York, the dark brown and black wolf perking their ears towards the sound, answering back with deep howls sending a tingle down their spines. The black wolf put his nose to the ground, a faint breeze brought up a scent, Janine was almost pulled off her feet the way Egon took off on the trail, Kylie and Ray following close behind. They rendezvoused with Rookie and Winston in Greenwich Village in an alleyway, the wolves were set free of their leads, the three wolves with noses to the ground, sniffing out the location. Mel pulled behind them with Ecto-1, getting out to join the trio. Ray was the first to jump into a dumpster, the rustling of garbage bags, bottles and tin cans sounded, with Egon jumping in with him. Though reluctant, Winston hopped in as well.

“Great, they’re going to stink up the car,” Mel scrunched up her nose. 

Ray popped his head up with the fragment in his mouth, his maw forming a big smile as he was panting hopping out of the dumpster, trotting over to them; Winston and Egon scrambled out, shaking themselves off and joined Ray. 

“I wanna fluff you so much for being good boys and finding it, but you all stink,” Kylie tried not to smell the stench fuming off the three wolves. 

“You guys better knock it off finding these things in the smelliest of places,” Janine covered her nose and mouth with a hand. 

A whistle broke out the other end of the alley; it started low, moving to a high note and moved down a step in tone. The dark brown and black tinted wolves immediately snapped their heads to a man standing across the way far on the other side; Winston stood his ground, the whistle wasn’t catching his attention like it did with the other two. 

_‘Ray? Egon?’_

There was no answer from them. Winston gave a soft whine. _‘Guys?’_

“Winston? What’s wrong, boy?” Kylie leaned down, never minding the smell as she petted the dark black wolf. Her eyes gazed at the man standing at the far end of the alley, his figure looked familiar. 

_‘Guys, c’mon, snap out of it!’_ The black wolf whined again audible to those around him. 

Another whistle sounded, low to a step up that was held a little longer, then quickly scaling to a high pitch. Ray was the first to take two steps, Egon passed him by four, the whistle sounding again. 

“Hey, mister, these aren’t yours!” Janine called across the way to the man, taking two steps forward. The two wolves almost halfway down the alley quickly turned on their heels, snarling with their lips pulled back and fur bristled; the party and Winston were taken aback by the quick turn of behavior in Egon and Ray. The second whistle broke out once again, gaining the snarling wolves’ attention with Ray catching up to Egon, both standing in the middle of the alley.

“Let’s snag them before they run off with him,” Kylie whispered to Rookie, the latter taking Spengler’s lead from Janine. The pair crept behind them, the leashes clicked on; however, their action was met by two feral wolves. The dark brown wolf with grey spun around, jumping on Kylie; she used her arm as a block, crying in pain as teeth sunk into it. Rookie was run down by a large black with brown tints wolf, fangs biting into his shoulder. Both wolves shook them about, Mel wishing she had a tranquilizer; Winston quickly moved, dashing in to get them off. He grabbed Ray first, fighting with the large dark brown wolf. Kylie scrambled away, Mel helping her to get out of there; Janine gave a quick whistle which gained Egon’s attention, the black wolf registering that particular noise. 

Egon snapped out of the trance, backing away with his ears flattened and tail tucked; Rookie got up to his feet, looking as shocked and frightened as Kylie was, stumbling backwards towards safety. The black tinted wolf saw Winston fighting it with Ray, coming to intervene. He grabbed Ray by his throat with his jaws, forcing him onto the ground. The figure at the end of the alley turned to walk away, a cloud dispersing itself in Ray’s mind. 

_‘Spengsy! Let go! Please!’_ The dark brown wolf stayed still, whining loudly. Egon let him go, Ray getting to his feet, shaking himself.

 _‘You two wanna explain yourselves? You attacked Kylie and Rookie!’_ The pitch black wolf gave a short growl and a series of groans. 

_‘We … we what?’_ Ray looked over back to where Kylie and Bryan and gone to, catching a glimpse of Mel patching Kylie up with the medical kit from Ecto. There was a metallic taste on his tongue that he wished would go away. _‘Oh … oh no … oh god …’_

_‘I regret what I have done, I never wish to be subjected like that again.’_ The black tinted wolf whined loudly, his posture still reading scared. Egon heard Janine whistle again, the wolf reluctantly getting to his feet and started to walk over. _‘Apollo called to us, having us defend him by any means. Those whistles are distinct, one to gain our attention, one to bring us by his side in service.’_

_‘I heard it, but I wasn’t switched off like you two were. I tried calling you guys, but you never answered.’_ Winston strolled up to Egon. Ray stayed in the alley, whimpering loudly. The pitch black wolf stopped, looking over to the dark brown wolf, trotting up to him. _‘Ray, I know it wasn’t your fault. They understand it wasn’t you doing that, hopefully. Kylie’s been through worse, Ray, she’ll pull through. Now, c’mon.’_

_‘I … I had no control …’_

_‘I know you didn’t. Apollo wants us for something that we will have no control over if we don’t find the fragments in time.’_

Janine had a frown on her lips, mostly out of anger but part of that frown was in distress over how Egon was losing himself to this curse. It saddened her to see what he was becoming, and it worried her more that it was happening quickly; for a man she knew (and loved) to have a sharp mind, deemed impenetrable, this curse was proving itself to be a battle Egon was losing to. Spengler came up to her, his body language nervous and scared; his head was bowed, tail tucked and ears flat, his eyes reading regret and apologies for what just happened.

“Don’t give me that look,” she sternly told him, disappointment behind her tone. Janine nodded her head to Rookie getting treatment after Kylie was looked after. “Apologize to him.”

“It’s okay, Ms. Melnitz,” Bryan called from the backseat of the hearse. “It, ouch, wasn’t his fault. That guy across the alley must’ve been that Apollo guy Kylie’s been having me help research.” 

Mel breathed a curse in Spanish under her breath. “If he wants them so bad, he’s got a fight waiting for him. What does your research say about banishing this guy?”

“I don’t think this guy is leaving without them,” Kylie grumbled. 

“Well, there you all are!” 

Eyes turned to see Venkman with Peck in tow, the latter with a scowl on his face, the chocolate brown wolf having a grin on his face the way he was panting. “I had this slobbering mutt take me across all of Manhattan, I could’ve dropped him off at the goddamn zoo or had animal control take him!” He turned his attention to Bryan. “I had lost your other two cohorts halfway here, I don’t know if they’ll catch up.”

“Consider us found!” Dani and Lou hopped out of a taxi. 

“Glad we stopped at the right spot,” Dani’s cheery grin dropped seeing Rookie and Kylie injured. “Oh, my god, what happened?!” 

Winston came out of the alley with Ray, the latter panting though the little specks of blood on his and Egon’s noses told Walter all he needed to know. Fury sparked in his eyes, darting from the two wolves with blood on their noses and chins to the two employees who were gauzed and wrapped. 

_‘Jesus, what the hell happened here?’_

_‘I’d rather not discuss it, Venkman.’_

_‘Spengs … c’mooon …’_

The black tinted wolf gave a light growl at Peter, the latter flattening his ears and tucking his tail. 

_‘Sheesh. Touchy.’_

“Agent Ortiz, Ms. Melntiz, Ms. Griffin, and Mr. Welsh, you have exactly _one minute_ to explain or I will call animal control and have Drs. Spengler and Stantz disposed of,” Walter kept his composure under extreme restraint, his voice shaking in fury. He pointed a threatening finger at them, especially having it pointed at Egon. “These two have assaulted two of this company’s employees, they can _and will_ be subjected to termination from this company, regardless of their … current form.” He kept his finger locked on Spengler. “He’s the worst of them all! I would have figured Dr. Stantz to be the one to turn so quickly given how some of them seem to have a personality switch.”

 _‘He’s got you there, Spengs.’_

There came another growl from the black tinted wolf stepping towards Peter, a snap of his jaws was met with a slap on his muzzle from Janine. Egon ceased his snarls, backing off as he was proving Peck’s point; Kylie stared down with faint terror at what her boss was becoming. They had to find the fragments fast, they just need more time, more time given to the four men who have been wolves for almost a whole month; it’s been a little over a week since the last fragment was found. Apollo was definitely blocking the scents, not wanting them to be recovered. 

“Mr. Peck, I know how it looks, but to be honest, it wasn’t their fault,” Kylie stepped forward. “I can prove it to you with what research we’ve found over the past week. It’s going to shed light on the weight of the situation, and what just happened here, is no cause to do anything to Ray and Dr. Spengler. I judged wrong and got myself and Bryan injured.”

“Then I would have hoped from a bright person like you, that you would’ve been smart and stayed out of harm’s way,” Peck scolded her. 

“Ah, just take ‘em out back and Old Yeller them,” Ron grumbled from the back of Ecto-1. All four wolves jumped to the window Ron was sat by, snarling and giving threatening barks with their growls. The human slid across the back seat to the other side, the fear in his eyes satisfied the four beasts, they were pulled back by Janine and Mel. Peck strode up to them pointing a fearsome finger at the canids. 

“I’m only going to say this once, so listen.” The wolves’ panting mouths closed, their attention on Walter which subtly gave him a power trip, he straightened himself. “Good. Any of you attack one or all of us, you either have some goddamn restraint and don’t do it, or there will be dire consequences.” 

_‘Better be a slap on the wrist once we’re done with this curse.’_

_‘I think he meant if we’re still in this form, Peter.’_

_‘He can’t do nothing to us while we’re like this, Ray.’_ Peter looked to the other three. _‘Can he?’_

 _‘He keeps threatening us with animal control.’_ Egon glanced over at Venkman. _‘Which has multiple consequences. We become caged in a zoo or released in the wild. That of itself will result in death, natural or by poachers and hunters.’_

 _‘Egon Spengler, life of the party.’_ Peter groaned, lowering his head.

“Well?” Peck gave each of them a hard stare. 

The black tinted wolf stepped forward, sitting himself down and put out a paw to shake. Walter rolled his eyes, feeling humiliated to shake with a wolf; the black wolf gave a soft groan, extending his paw out more. Peck gave in, two shakes with Egon was enough to make him pull out a handkerchief and wipe his hand clean. Ray walked up to Kylie, whining and giving her puppy dog eyes in apology. She exhaled deeply through her nose, fluffing the wolf’s head between his ears. 

“I’ve been through worse, boss, you know that,” Kylie gave a couple pats on his head. She caught a whiff from her hand, nose scrunching up. “Let’s get you boys back for a bath. Oof.” 

“I’ll take Egon back to my place,” Janine hooked the lead onto the wolf’s harness, she gave him a disappointed glare. “Give him a few lessons in obedience.” The black wolf gave a couple soft whines, tucking his tail subtly.


	5. Chapter 5

**The next week**

“Apollo is mainly attributed to music, truth, and archery. However, wolves are associated to him and it’s been said there had been a wolf cult in Arcadia, more specifically Mount Lykaion which is where most werewolf stories come from,” Kylie started off once she had her audience. She stood at the whiteboard in the lab, Peck stood with his hands on his hips, Mel close by arms crossed, Bryan intently sat forward in his seat; Janine was sat next to him, the loop of a leash on her wrist. That leash was attached to the collar Spengler wore, the black wolf had his head laying between his paws, a rope muzzle was around his snout, garnering looks from the three wolves leisurely seated a few feet away from him. 

_‘Must’ve been real embarrassing, huh, Spengs.’_ Peter crossing his paws. _‘You’re literally in the dog house now.’_

Expecting a retort, but getting none, the light brown wolf rose, strolling over to the black tinted wolf; Ray was close behind Peter, cutting him off. 

_‘I wouldn’t go near him, Peter.’_

_‘Why? He’s probably just being grumpy.’_

_‘Something’s off with him.’_ The dark brown wolf looked back over at the black tinted wolf, turning his attention back to Venkman. _‘Janine might have that muzzle on him for a reason. He’s been quiet the entire time we’ve been here.’_ Ray approached with caution to the muzzled animal, getting a few quick sniffs before licking the tip of the wolf’s ear. _‘Egon? You there?’_ There was nothing coming from Spengler.

_‘You sure she didn’t neuter you, Egon?’_

_‘Knock it off, Peter.’_ Ray snapped his attention to Peter, growling at him, stopping the lecture Kylie was giving. 

“Don’t start, you two,” Peck jabbed a finger at them. The warning glare Walter gave Peter and Ray was enough for the two to slink back to Winston and lay down. Peck exhaled deeply through his nose, turning to Kylie. “You were saying, Ms. Griffin.”

“Right. This wolf cult worshipped anthropomorphic wolf versions of Zeus, his wife and Apollo’s mother Leto, not to mention Apollo himself,” she continued, pointing the laser at various spots of her research. “He was dubbed Lord of the Wolves by followers and given the role of protector of flocks and to ward off enemies. In some aspects he’s referred to as a ‘wolf god’, being as how people saw wolves as Apollo’s messengers among other things.”

“Well, this guy doesn’t seem so bad, why not just give them over to him?” Ron sulked by the door frame. “Even if we fail to put the pieces back together, let this guy have ‘em for a while.” He paused. “Or for eternity. We don’t even know how many pieces are left, so I say just let the fragments be left alone and give those mangy mutts over to Apollo.”

“Excellent segue, Ron, thank you,” Kylie piped up, drawing an arrow from Apollo to a simple drawing of the bronze wolf head. Ron grumbled under his breath. “So, we know the bronze head wasn’t on the list that came in from Italy, neither did the book. These two work together in an interesting but terrifying plot that Apollo has pulled off for centuries.” 

“It wasn’t supposed to combust into pieces, was it?” Rookie raised his good hand.

“No. The pages had some water damage, but knowing Ray, he doesn’t have the tongue for Latin, blurry writing or not,” Kylie looked to her boss, “Sorry, Ray.”

The dark brown wolf groaned in agreement, giving a quick huff and licked his nose.

“Anyone who came across the pair and read the spell, it would seem nothing happened after the caster said it, no magic glowing from the wolf head. Thinking what they read didn’t have no power, the caster shrugged it off.” Kylie paused for dramatic effect. “Until two months later. Give or take a day or two after reading the spell, the user would wake up as a wolf. They retained their human mind, but over those two months, their mental workings would shift to think more like a wolf, and eventually becoming that animal. No human identity whatsoever, all traces vanishing during the psychological transformation.”

 _‘Egon was right. I’ve been catching myself being not fully me.’_ Ray raised his head towards the lecture. _‘We’re down to the wire on this.’_

 _‘We gotta find those pieces.’_ Winston splayed his back legs out, looking to Peter and Ray. _‘I think I might be the last to go. I’ve been staying strong this entire time.’_ He looked to Egon who was motionless throughout the lecture. _‘I’m just surprised he’s the first.’_

 _‘I’m really worried about him.’_ Ray gave a soft whine. 

“Apollo will come and call on the victim, using the two whistles we heard earlier,” Kylie set the pointer down. “The wolf who was once an independent human will have no will power to resist and go to him. And so, the bronze head and book will be sent somewhere else. These cases span exactly 100 years. I’ve only been able to get testimonies from acquaintances of the victims, and some of the surviving wolf cult documents. Apparently, Apollo chooses hunters who show worth.”

“Stantz and his cronies? Worthy? That’s a laugh.”

“I share the same sentiments, Mr. Alexander, but with the weight of the situation at hand, I deem your comment unnecessary,” Peck crossed his arms. “Please wrap this up, Ms. Griffin.”

“Right, so Ray not reading the spell correctly caused the wolf head to splinter, which is something that wasn’t supposed to happen. By getting the pieces back together, the curse should be reversed, and they’ll change back,” Kylie brought forth a tray with what pieces they’ve found. It nearly formed the top half of the head, the eyes, ears, and half of the muzzle. “Thank you for coming to my lecture.”

“Egon found the nose on our way over here,” Janine present Kylie with the piece wrapped in a napkin. 

“From the photos I’ve seen, it looks like we need the lower half of it,” Bryan noted. “There might be a total of eight pieces. Four pieces left!”

“The question is, where exactly are they?” Mel brought up.

“Apollo might be intentionally keeping them away from us,” Kylie set the tray down, taking the fragment from Janine. “From what Dr. Spengler mentioned before, he’s blocking the trail to them. He clearly doesn’t want them to be found.”

“Could the sculpture breaking speed up any changes?” Rookie timidly asked, glancing over at Spengler. The wolf remained still, staring out. 

Kylie glanced over at the motionless wolf with concern, looking to Bryan. “I can’t say for sure. I’m sorry, I wish I had a better answer.”

“Well, this was enlightening,” Peck uncrossed, making his way to the stairs. “I’m sure you’re all capable of finding the remaining fragments.” 

A scuttle of claws on flooring sounded, Peter got onto his hind legs, front paws dangling over Peck’s shoulders, the wolf licking Walter, tail wagging in a fast motion. The human turned around, the wolf was briefly on all fours before getting back up; his arms were out straight, paws on Walter’s chest. The light brown wolf made a series of groans and whines, wagging his tail. 

“Aw, Peter wants to go home with Walter,” Mel teased.

“You have exactly one second to get your stinking paws off me,” Peck growled. 

“You damn dirty dog,” Ron referenced. The wolf groaned, hopping down to all fours, trotting over to Mel who indulged in ruffling Venkman’s fur around his face, giving the FBI agent a few wolf kisses.

“Disgusting,” Peck snarled, making his exit. 

“Okay, enough, he’s gone,” Mel dropped the act, standing straight. 

_‘Aw, c’mon, you know I enjoy taking the piss on Walt.’_ Peter groaned, stopping halfway back over to Ray and Winston to check in on the quiet wolf. _‘Hey, Egon, c’mon, drop the brooding, it doesn’t suit you.’_ He gave one lick to the wolf’s face, Spengler was up on his feet, growling at Venkman. The lighter brown wolf, being the omega of the small pack, quickly submitted. _‘Hey! Hey! Take it easy! What is the matter with you?’_

The silence from the other on the mental plane spooked Peter, he scooted away from Egon who was still lowly growling at him. Venkman made another attempt to approach. _‘Spengs? Buddy? You okay?’_ A sudden lunge from the black tinted wolf had Janine up on her feet, tugging the lead. 

“Heel,” she commanded, a warning tone in her words. The wolf obeyed, still growling. “Quiet.” The growls ceased, the black wolf had an intense stare which made the three wolves and everyone else uneasy.

 _‘This isn’t good.’_ Ray whined. He had his head low, body language nervous. _‘Egon? Are you there? If you are, please … say something.’_ A deafening silence was heard in the mental plane, the dark brown wolf gave another whimper. _‘Please … anything.’_

“What happened with Egon?” Mel approached Janine. 

“I tried talking to him last night with the tiles, but he could hardly say anything past one word,” she gave a couple pets on the wolf’s head. “After his bath, he was very melancholic, that’s where we tried the tiles. And then this morning, he wasn’t in my bed like he has been. I tried calling his name, nothing. I whistled then he came.”

“He’s not responding to his name?” Kylie overheard, anxiety in her eyes.

Janine looked down to the wolf, heartbreak verging in her eyes. “No.” She motioned to a small bandage on her hand. “On top of that, he got spooked when I got him into the harness and he bit me. He was very sorry for it, but he knew the consequences.” She let out a heavy sigh. “It’s all happening so fast for him.”

“Then the sculpture breaking apart is speeding up the changes,” Kylie thought aloud. “First one to go.”

 _‘C’mon, Egon. Say something.’_ Winston took timid steps. 

_‘Speak, boy, speak!’_ Peter teased, but the silence drawn on; a minute seemed forever. Finally, an answer came. 

_‘Can’t … hold on …’_

Ray’s whines increased. _‘Egon … this can’t be happening to you …’_

_‘I’m … sorry … can’t … hold … on …’_

The three wolves as a group whined, gathering around the black tinted wolf. Mel, Janine, and Kylie exchanged looks, Rookie was even watching the events unfold.

“Can they communicate to each other? Telepathically?” Rookie inquired. 

“From our initial conversation when they came back, yeah,” Kylie replied, her brows drawing together in concern. “Janine, do you think they’re catching on?” 

“They must be if their whimpers and postures are anything to go by.” Janine looked read to break down, unhooking the leash. “Go lay down.” The wolf got up, strolling to the sofa, hopping up onto it and laid down; Ray, Peter, and Winston followed, trying to get more out of Spengler. 

_‘Egon, please, stay with us.’_ Winston groaned. 

_‘Hard … to think … I’m … on a … thin … thread …’_

_‘Can you hang on just a little bit longer?’_ Peter gave a few licks to the wolf’s nose. 

It had gone quiet on Spengler’s end for what seemed like forever. The wolves stopped their vocalizing, their eyes focusing on the lounging wolf. 

_‘Spengler?’_

Out of the void on the mental plane, they heard a faint voice call out to them. 

_‘Help …’_

_‘We’re gonna help you, Egon. We just need you to hang on.’_ Winston put his front paws on the sofa, standing up. _‘You’re not gone just yet.’_

_‘Who?’_

_‘Oh, shit.’_ Peter took two steps back. _‘Guys, I think he’s done for.’_

_‘You’re Egon.’_ Ray stood up on the arm of the sofa, looking down at the black tinted wolf. _‘You’re Egon Spengler. Doctor Egon Spengler. You helped form the Ghostbusters. We defeated Gozer from destroying the world, we stopped Vigo the Carpathian from taking over. We even took down Tiamat! Do you remember?’_

A minute seemed forever when the reply came. _‘No.’_

_‘Fuck.’_

_‘Shit. This ain’t good, guys.’_

_‘What can we do? We gotta help him remember something.’_ Ray whined.

 _‘Listen, Spengs, we’re worried for you, big guy. Kylie’s worried, Mel is, too. Even Janine looks ready to break down.’_ Peter approached the sofa. 

_‘Janine …’_ The black wolf raised his head, gold eyes darting over to the red haired woman who was talking to other people. _‘I know her … she takes care of me …’_

 _‘And boy howdy does she ever try.’_ Peter glanced back over to the small group. _‘Mother Hen to all of us, really. Nothing ever gets past her.’_

_‘She … admires me …’_

_‘I think more than admires, Spengs.’_ Peter groaned. _‘Deep down she loves ya, big guy. She tries so hard to get your attention. You need to tell her you love her before it’s too late. And not in the way you’d think in that canine brain. Use your human brain, Egon. Deep down we’re all animals, but you’re still you. You’re slipping, and that’s not a good thing. You might wake up after a good nap or the next day and then poof, you’re gone. And if we ever make it out of this clusterfuck, she needs to know you care for her and that you love her, whatever happens.’_

_‘I … I love her.’_

_‘And do you mean that? Is that the human in you? Is that really you, Egon.’_ Peter leaned his head forward, cocking it to one side.

 _‘Yes … I love her …’_

_‘Ray, get Janine and the tiles. You do the spelling. I think the big guy here can’t manage.’_ Venkman glanced over at the dark brown wolf.

Stantz was off like a shot, whining and groaning, looking over to the other wolves. He grabbed the Scrabble tiles, trotting over to Kylie and Janine. Ray pawed at Janine’s leg, giving a soft ‘woof’ with the bag of tiles in his mouth. 

“Ray? What is it?” Janine softly asked. He could see her eyes were slightly puffy from holding back tears. She took the bag from him, opening it and dumped the tiles out. “What is it you need to tell us?”

Ray didn’t waste any time. ‘EGON SLIPPING. NOT MUCH TIME. SAYS HE LOVES YOU.’

“So, he’s still in there somewhere,” her eyes widened.

‘NOT ENTIRELY. VERY FAINT.’

Janine felt her heart sink into her stomach, she took a deep breath. “Does he mean it?”

Ray looked back over to Venkman. _‘Is he coherent enough to mean it, Venkman?’_

_‘Ray, it’s alright. Tell her I love her.’_ The black tinted wolf raised his head more, eyes and ears alert. 

Stantz turned his attention back to Janine. ‘YES.’ Kylie crouched next to her, gently rubbing her back. Mel offered a sympathetic hand on Janine’s shoulder. 

“Thank you, Ray.” The dark brown wolf huffed, strolling back over to the sofa. 

_‘Egon, are you with us?’_ Ray’s ears became alert, head cocking to the side, his tail slightly wagging.

_‘Briefly. It’s extremely pertinent those fragments are found. I don’t know how much time is left. We’re reaching the second month, and I’ve been psychologically vanishing and reappearing for longer periods. Last night was the first time I’ve been gone for almost 24 hours. It’s strange for me have anxieties about what’s going to occur next. If this may be the last I’ll have articulate and coherent thoughts, Janine will be fine. I’ll look after her, whatever form of love I will have, she will receive it abundantly. I’ll protect her, Apollo be damned. I may not be here, but attitudes and actions will remain the same like they always have, perhaps a minute change. Raymond, thank you. Peter and Winston, thank you as well.’_

_‘For what?’_ Winston cocked his head. 

_‘For everything. I enjoy our times together. What we’ve achieved and accomplished.’_ Egon let out a big yawn. _‘Thank you.’_ The black tinted wolf, laid his head down on his paws, subsequently closing his eyes. 

“C’mon, boys, let Dr. Spengler sleep,” Kylie brought over the harnesses and leads. “We got four more pieces left, let’s go.”

As they were ushered down the stairs and out the doors, Peter had an uneasy feeling weighing on his heart and mind. 

_‘Hey, guys, you know in those Shakespeare plays, or just about any show where a character monologues for a great deal of time, and then that was it? The character passes on?’_ Peter’s tone was grave, remorseful even.

 _‘Yeah? What about it?’_ Winston glanced over at Peter as they walked down the street. 

_‘Figuratively speaking, for Egon? That was it.’_


	6. Chapter 6

“Walter, I need you to dog sit the guys for the night.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line before he responded. 

“You’re joking, Ms. Melnitz.”

“I’m not. There’s three cases that need to be attended to, and I don’t have the room for four full grown wolves,” Janine elaborated. “If it helps, just forget who they really are. Think of them as big dogs with lots of energy.” Peck was quiet on his end, most likely rolling his eyes and internally grumbling to himself. Janine sighed. “Look either you take them, or they’re left by themselves and they destroy the place if they don’t have their wits about them. Will you babysit them? Please? For me?”

Peck gave an audible groan. “Fine. But just this once. And I will warn you, I will not hesitate to hand them over to animal control if they pull any idiotic act.”

“Only if you give them commands, they won’t do anything,” Janine leaned back in her chair, the black wolf with brown tips rested his chin on her leg; she looked down at him, lightly petting him between his ears. “Trust me, they’re pretty much dogs ninety percent of the time. Say the word and they’ll obey. And thank you, Walter.”

He quickly hung up, rubbing his face. “What have I gotten myself into?”

 

Walter later showed up to the firehouse, the wolves in their harnesses intently staring up at Kylie who handed off the leads to Peck. The small party that went out earlier that day came back empty handed, more searching would’ve been done however some pesky poltergeists needed attending to.

“Be nice to him, boys. Be good, okay?” she gave each wolf a pat and a ruffle, their tails lightly wagging. Kylie rushed to Ecto-1, climbing into the passenger seat. “See you boys later!” 

Walter took a few steps before there was resistance on the other end of the leads. He spun on his heels to face the three wolves, the black tinted wolf was the only one who knew it was time for walks; it stood by Peck, glancing over his shoulder at the others. 

_‘Spengs, what’s the deal? Let’s not give the man any ideas that he can order us around just because we’re stuck like this.’_ Peter groaned. The black wolf continued to stare at him, Walter looked down at the wolf that was usually Egon Spengler, reaching a hand to give a pat on the wolf’s head, removing the rope muzzle from his snout.

“Good boy.” Peck looked to the rest. “See? At least one of you understands when it’s time to go. Now, come.”

The dark brown with grey and tan trotted up to Walter, receiving a pat, Ray subsequently panting and wagging his tail. Winston strolled up, his face getting scratched. Walter pulled out one treat for each, the wolves surrounding him giving Peck their undivided attention. 

_‘What the hell, guys?! Fine. I don’t need this, and I don’t want to be looked over by some asshole who’s just gonna turn us over to animal control.’_ Peter groaned, vocalizing his dislike for Walter. The black tinted wolf took two steps forward, growling deeply; Venkman got a warning tone from the way Egon growled at him. Walter put his hands on his hips.

“I don’t care for your protest, Venkman. Be stubborn with me and you won’t ever see this place again. Now, _come here_.” He snapped and pointed a finger down at his feet. The light brown colored wolf immediately obeyed, catching up to the rest. Peck gave him a treat to condition good behavior in the wolves, Walter had a subtle grin hiding on his lips as he led them out of the firehouse into the night air. “Good boys, all of you.” 

Halfway to his apartment, a hooded man collided with Walter, gruffly apologizing before continuing to walk. All four wolves stopped and turned their heads to the figure walking away from them, the black tinted wolf giving a low growl. Peck nearly had his arm torn out of its socket the way the wolves bolted from him, the leads breaking from his hand; he was about to yell at them before three men grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him into the nearest alley. 

“Give us your dogs,” the middle man sneered, flashing a knife under Walter’s throat, “or you’re gonna be stir fry.”

A faint scream broke out, growls and barks sounded with the noises subsiding after; Walter was given a sock to face and a punch to the gut, his life being threatened by these crooks looking to make money off the wolves for dog fighting. Loud growling was heard to his right; the three men who had Walter pinned to the wall turned to see four snarling wolves. Peter had dropped Peck’s wallet once they returned and noticed Walter had gone, Peck now seeing that they had run off to get the man’s stolen item back. 

“Sic ‘em,” Walter muttered through grit teeth. 

Spengler, Ray, and Winston charged after the three assailants, Venkman stayed by Walter; the three larger wolves nipped and bit at the crooks, their fangs sinking into arms and shoulders, claws scratching and tearing at cloth and skin. Peck watched in faint terror, glancing down at Peter who was keeping watch over him. A sharp yelp broke out of the growling, followed by another; the three humans managed to scramble away, one wolf remained standing after the fight. Winston whined, going over to Ray who was whining loudly. Peck dashed over, discovering that the one with the knife had cut at the large dark brown wolf. Walter knelt on the ground in front of the wolf, inspecting the damage; two spots where the knife had gone in showed deep penetration, he wasn’t sure if it was life threatening or not. 

A groan sounded behind him, Spengler also had suffered some damage from the tussle; he was bleeding from his left shoulder, his left paw looking broken. Winston went over to the alpha, licking at Egon’s wounds. Walter faintly shook, turning back to Ray, pressing his hand against the openings; he looked out to the street, eyes darting to find anyone to help.

 _‘Ray? Talk to us, where’d he get you?’_ Winston came back over, giving gentle licks to the dark brown wolf’s face. 

_‘I think … he got me … near my liver.’_ The wolf had raspy breaths in his high pitched whines. _‘And he ... must’ve punctured … a lung …’_

_‘Hold on, Ray. We need you.’_

A deep howl broke out from Spengler, Winston and Peter joining in. Walter was crouched, dumbfounded on what to do. Leaving Ray to get help was dangerous, no applied pressure would lead the wolf to bleed out. 

“Do you need help?” an English accent spoke to him. Walter turned his head to see a tall man standing over him. The wolves ceased their howling, eyes focused on Apollo; the man made brief eye contact with Egon, seeing into the wolf’s mind that Spengler was no more in the sense of knowing who he was, a faint trace of his identity still hanging on though. The black wolf with brown highlights stayed put, giving a short groan. Apollo turned his attention back to Walter who looked helpless with a bleeding wolf – Apollo’s wolf. 

“I … I don’t know what to do. Normally I’m not a dog person, but they … they saved me,” Walter’s voice shook. 

Apollo crouched next to him, placing a hand on Ray’s side. He could feel the wolf’s life slip away, the stab to the lungs is what’s causing the animal to fail; Apollo deeply breathed through his nose, placing his other hand over the wound. 

“You’re not going to die, little one,” he whispered. Ray’s whines increased in sound, getting higher with each second; Apollo slipped his hand into the wolf’s chest, his hand placed directly on the injured lung. The dark brown wolf felt a warmth coming from the god’s hand, the tissue being repaired to a certain degree, the wound near his liver was being healed as well.

“I’m afraid I can’t fully heal it. However, I’ve stopped the bleeding,” Apollo withdrew his hands, wiping them with the handkerchief from a back pocket. “There will be scars, and he will be sore, but they’ll heal fully in a month.”

Walter met the intense blue eyes of the god in human form, trying not to freak out because the man had healing powers. Apollo knelt in front of Spengler, inspecting the damage done to the wolf; he could see brown eyes gazing at him from behind the stoic, gold eyes of the wolf in the void of Egon’s mind. Apollo was getting a clearer picture of who the wolf was prior to the changes – the brown wavy almost curly hair, dark brows, a handsome jawline, Jewish heritage prominent in the man’s facial structure. Apollo saw the man staring back with a lost look in his brown eyes – the vacant gaze that held a yearning for commands. He could take him now, but Apollo would wait a little longer. Tissue and muscle were mended back, a scar visible on the wolf’s shoulder, and the paw set back in place. 

“I … don’t know who or what you are, but I appreciate this,” Walter gradually got to his feet. “You’re … certainly not the strangest man I’ve met, but thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. They are very special creatures, wolves,” Apollo stood. “Perhaps after what they’ve done for you, you can learn to appreciate them more.” He walked to the entrance of the alley and vanished. “Bye for now.” Walter went to fetch his dropped wallet, not seeing the man who had just helped him. He turned around, watching the dark brown wolf slowly rise to his feet, the small pack strolling towards him with Ray and Egon having a slight limp in their gait. Peck picked up their leads, staring down at them with a sudden change in his eyes. Perhaps for the first time, he had genuine respect for them.

“Thank you. All of you,” he finally got out. “Let’s take you back to my place.”

 

Apollo had returned to the penthouse he resided in, hearing a ‘whoosh’ behind him as he laid on the couch and rested his eyes.

“You grow impatient, sister,” he mumbled. 

“And you grow concerned now that you see what some of these humans are capable of doing,” Artemis sat in the chair adjacent to her brother. 

“I heard them call,” Apollo softly recalled. “The one called Spengler had a tone of sorrow I couldn’t ignore. They were in pain, him and the other one named Stantz. I could feel the latter’s life slip. I am their protector and master, I cannot let one of my pack be killed by petty thieves.”

“So, you used your powers? Were there no mortals around?”

“Just one. But I didn’t fully heal them due to this form, only to a point where it will completely mend by the end of next month.”

“And this mortal was of no concern to you.”

“Didn’t think nothing special of me, to paraphrase his words. Clearly he’s seen things the little ones have.” Apollo’s brow creased. “However, he seems to have the mark of the Fae or a greater being of that nature on him.”

“I’d be cautious, dear brother,” Artemis sat forward. “Fae are powerful creatures.”

“Yes, but I don’t think he’ll be trouble for us,” Apollo sat up, rubbing his face. “I don’t think he’s even aware of it. I wouldn’t fret over anything. They won’t find the final pieces. And soon we shall take what is ours.”

“Though I fear one of them will lead to our undoing. I can see you have doubts all of them will be fully transformed by end of this month.”

“One of them has a strong conscious, or a strong will. Though the sculpture breaking apart sped up the process some, it’s unclear how long it will take him to break.”

“No matter, I shall take him if he has half his mind about him.” Artemis rose, striding to the door. She paused, turning her upper half to her brother. “I’d still be cautious of the people they surround themselves with, Apollo.”

“Ever the worrier,” Apollo mumbled in a teasing manner, looking back behind him to give his twin sister a smirk. She turned the same grin, closing the door as she exited. He sat forward rubbing his face, deeply exhaling; four pieces remained, he had done enough to hide them however with how adept they have become at tracking down the scents, Apollo could applaud them for doing so. They belonged to him and his sister, after all.


	7. Chapter 7

With a quick stop to a butcher shop, Peck had treated the wolves to thick ribeye steaks with the bone in, the four beasts desperately wanting them as soon as Walter exited the shop. 

“Wait ‘til we get home,” he told them. Walter could’ve sworn they had dejected looks in their eyes in response. On the walk the rest of the way, he couldn’t help but notice an acute awareness Spengler was displaying; the assault on Peck’s life had put the wolf into protective mode the entire trek to Walter’s apartment, the beast was a step further than the others, ears forward and looking every way for any suspicious activity. A corner of Walter’s lips turned up in appreciation. 

They had come up to the luxury apartment complex Peck called home, taking the elevator to the fifth floor; the wolves were curiously sniffing every speck and spot, new smells reaching their noses. At last they reached the door, their tails gently wagging, gazing up at Walter with wide eyed stares. 

“I should tell you all, I have two cats,” he explained, getting his keys out and unlocking the door. “Harm one hair on them, and there will be consequences. Do you understand?” A resounding small ‘woof’ came from the pack, a grin appeared in a corner of Peck’s mouth. “Good boys.”

The door opened to a large comfortable apartment; wood flooring with large windows, and large everything. The living room had ample space for four fully grown wolves to roam and lounge about, his bedroom held a king sized bed, shelves lined the sitting living room area; the kitchen had granite countertops, a large island in the middle, lastly the bathroom was spacious and very clean. The whole apartment was ornate to suit Walter’s taste, the wolves gazing about the place. 

_‘I’ll be damned, Peck has a nice crib here. I wonder what would happen if I …’_

“Don’t even _think_ about marking your territory here, Venkman,” Walter unhooked the harness and bent over to meet at Peter’s eye level. “I will neuter you if you do. So, behave. I’m sure Spengler will be keeping you in line.” He turned his attention to the black wolf with brown highlights, rubbing the side of the wolf’s face subsequently removing the harness. “And he has been a good boy, I think he gets an extra treat after his dinner.” The wolf happily groaned, panting and his tail wagging as he was receiving a few more pets before Walter removed Winston and Ray’s harnesses. 

The wolves shook themselves head to toe, going about and doing some more sniffing; a tabby cat had come from the bedroom, giving herself a stretch. She gave a small hiss when her eyes landed on four canid animals, Peter being the closest to her. The light brown wolf gingerly reached a nose towards her, the cat batted at his snout with a low growl. The wolf backed off, Walter’s death glare while Venkman investigated the new four legged creature subsided as he picked Shadow off the floor. 

“They won’t hurt you,” he glanced down at Peter, “hopefully.” He scratched the side of her face, causing a purr out of her. “It’s only for the night.” Walter glanced at the other three wolves making themselves comfortable in the living area; Ray was lounged on the floor in front of the sofa Egon successfully got himself up on, Winston splayed his back legs out as he rested adjacent to Stantz. Peck’s mind went back to the alley, the ferocity of the animals made him faintly tremble; he was certain they would make him beg to have them pounce on those thieves, or they would just up and leave him. But when he commanded, they obeyed. Like dogs, as Janine said. Forget who they really are for the time being and treat them as normal dogs. 

“Well, maybe more than one night. Sorry, precious,” he muttered to the cat, setting her down and wandered to the kitchen, removing his coat and tie in the process. Walter let out a heavy sigh, unbuttoning the top button and his shirt sleeves, rolling them up halfway. He pulled a bottle of wine and a glass for himself, preparing the evening’s dinner while nursing the black eye he had received in the alley.

 _‘How you guys holding up?’_ Winston raised his head to Ray and Egon. 

_‘Extremely sore. But I’m …,’_ Ray sighed, _‘I’m thankful for Apollo mending me up the best he could. You’d think he’d completely heal it, perhaps even for a god like him using powers in an earthly form has drawbacks.’_ He perked up a bit, raising his head. _‘Which actually would be an interesting theory to research.’_

 _‘Ah, you’ll pull through.’_ Peter had done his round of walking around before jumping up on the large ottoman and curled himself up. _‘How about you, Spengs? Still with us?’_ He had been looking for a silver lining in the comment he made earlier about Egon giving one last speech before his mind went; he had a hope the Brains of the Ghostbuster would be there in the dark of the mental plane they shared. The black wolf with brown tints was asleep on the sofa, the easy rise and fall of the wolf’s breathing calm, a faint snore broke out now and then from the slumbering beast. 

_‘I’ve never seen him sleep like this. He looks … peaceful.’_ Winston looked over to Egon.

 _‘The man lives on cat naps, maybe this being a wolf thing is having him catch up on much needed rest.’_ Peter hopped off the ottoman and moved to the other sofa in the living room. 

_‘Or …,’_ Ray raised his head, the three wolves glancing at each other. Peter was the first off the sofa, Winston got up as Ray gradually rose to his feet before turning around and sitting up. _‘Egon, are you there?’_ No answer came in the void, Stantz softly whining. A sound came to their ears – Walter was humming a tune to himself in the kitchen, the wolves glanced his way before turning back to Spengler. 

_‘You think if we yell his name at the same time he’ll wake up?’_ Peter looked to the other two. 

Ray’s whines increased in sound. _‘Egon, please … wake up. We need to talk to you.’_ The dark brown wolf nudged the sleeping wolf’s good paw with his muzzle, the other two joining in the vocalizing. 

“Keep it down, you three,” Walter warned from the kitchen, having a full view of the wolves crowded around the slumbering creature. “Leave him alone.” He set four plates aside with the steaks on them, setting their food on the floor. “Time to eat, anyway. C’mon.” He gave a sharp whistle, the black wolf with brown tints snapping his head up, nimbly getting off the couch he was sleeping on and lightly limped to the kitchen to his food. 

The three wolves glanced at each other, body language reading nervous as they followed close behind. Walter saw their postures, wondering the cause of their statures, eyes darting to the black tinted wolf. Not knowing what they were all thinking, he did recall that Dr. Spengler’s state of mind at the time roughly a week ago was questionable, and from the briefing Kylie gave, victims of the spell would lose their human identity in a span of two months. They were one week into that second month, Peck experiencing an emotion of sympathy; he wasn’t one to have sympathy for people like the Ghostbusters, but given the circumstances – perhaps he can allow himself just this once to feel sorry for these poor bastards. 

Walter cleared his throat, going to the table to tuck into his homemade chicken tikka masala; not even halfway through his meal, he saw out of his peripheral vision four wolves stand close to him. Winston and Spengler flanked his sides, Peter and Ray were under the table, their eyes staring up at him. Walter heaved a sigh, annoyed his dinner was being interrupted. 

“Stay,” he looked to the black wolf with brown tints, turning his gaze to look out at the kitchen, “everyone else go. I will not be giving you scraps.” Peter, Ray, and Winston sulked off to the living area, letting out a huff as they all laid around. Walter had left over chicken he didn’t use, he rose from the table, strolling over to the stove; with a sharp whistle the wolf was there immediately. 

“Go to your plate.” The wolf obeyed. “Sit.” Walter came over with the still warm cooked chicken as soon as he saw the beast sit up. “Do not eat until I say so.” He watched the wolf with a keen eye, slowly setting the chicken down on the plate; Walter saw how well the beast followed, a small grin on his lips. “Good boy. Now you can eat.” The wolf chowed down on the chicken, Peck patted the beast, giving a sigh and returned to his own meal. Spengler licked his maw after devouring his meal, looking to Peck for more. Walter felt a pair of gold eyes stare at him, his eyes lifted to meet the other’s gaze. “Go lay down, I’ve got nothing for you.” The wolf groaned, picking the rib bone off his plate and sauntered into the living room; he hopped back onto the sofa he was sleeping on, gnawing on the bone. 

Shadow leaped onto the same couch, taking an interest in him; she got on top of his side, kneading into the wolf’s fur. Ray felt a small pressure up against his body while he rested, he lifted his head to see a hairless cat nestled up beside him. Her purring sent small vibrations across his abdomen that set him at ease, the dark brown wolf laying his head back down to doze off. Walter hummed the same tune he was singing under his breath earlier while he cleaned up when a small ‘click’ from the door stopped him; the black wolf with brown highlights released a low growl, Shadow jumping off the beast as the creature maneuvered to stand in front of the door a few feet away, the other three wolves positioned themselves close by.

Peck grabbed a chef’s knife from the knife block, holding it close to his chest. He tried his best keep his beating heart calm and his breathing down as the clicking continued; there was grumbling on the other side of the door, two people bickering about the locks. Walter was close enough to grab at the knob and throw the door open; the two burglars saw a six foot tall man wielding a knife with a snarl on his face and four wolves behind him snarling loudly. 

“You have five seconds to-,” Peck started before a large fist made contact with his face. The second Walter went down Ray and Winston leaped for the huge man, the smaller of the two was met with a large black wolf and a smaller brown colored one. 

“What the fuck is this guy doing with these things? Andre! Help!” the shorter burglar called. Peter had a hold of the guy’s ankle, Egon went straight for the throat but his jaws landed on an arm the crook used to block the attack. He brought out a knife, slashing the beast across the front nearly slitting the wolf’s throat. Andre, the larger crook, shook both wolves off him, their bodies hitting the walls on the way down. 

“I’m outta here, Frank, this is bad,” Andre turned tail and ran. Winston went back inside to check on Walter, seeing how Peter and Egon still nipped and bit at the other; Ray gradually got up, the soreness cranked up. He could feel something was dislocated while being tossed off, his shoulder felt out of place. 

“Andre!” Frank was down, surrounded by three angry wolves. The one on his arm had let go briefly after it was injured but went straight back for his throat, Frank blocked again with his arm. “Fuckin’ brute.” He went to shank Egon in the throat, but Peter was quick to grab the arm that held the knife. 

Walter was slowly coming to, the world swimming around him; when he was punched, electricity raced through him, he deeply gasped once he fully woke. Peck saw the smaller burglar struggling once he propped himself up and tried to stand. Frank ripped himself free from Peter, reaching for another knife and did what he set out to do, slashing Venkman in the face. The light brown colored wolf tried to pull the knife away by grabbing onto the same arm, Frank snarled, elbowing the wolf right on the snout. Peter had the man by his bicep, but the man was able to move his wrist and elbow. 

_“Ná déan dochar don mhac mac tíre!”_ Walter shouted just as the man had the knife almost entirely in Egon’s side. 

Frank felt a force stopping him from completely killing the wolf, the knife flying out of his hand and stuck to the wall down at the end of the hall. He saw a strange look in the red haired man’s eyes … they weren’t gold before … 

_“Scaoileadh air,”_ Walter commanded. The wolf’s snarling face dropped as Egon let go of the burglar. Frank scurried to his feet, transfixed by what was happening. Peck took one step before the burglar turned to run out of there. The gold hadn’t vanished from Walter’s eyes, focusing on three injured wolves in the hall; Ray hobbled back inside, Peter sauntered back in, it was Egon Peck was worried about the most. He could see the knife had nearly pierced the liver all together, the black wolf with brown tints whining as he tried to get up. 

“Shh, shh, _tá sé ceart go leor, ceann beag,”_ Walter knelt to pick Egon up and carry him inside. He set him on the larger sofa, inspecting the cut across the chest. 

_‘Hey, since when did Peck learn whatever the hell he’s speaking? He better not be possessed.’_ Peter stayed back, Winston licking the cut across his muzzle. 

_‘It’s Gaelic … plus he stopped the knife from going any further.’_ Ray rested nearby, ears forward and alert as was his gaze. _‘Would … there be a possibility that he might have faerie powers and not realizing until now? Man, I wish Spengler could give his two cents on this.’_

_‘You guys better not hound the man for blood and tissue samples and lord knows what else if we get out of this.’_ Winston groaned, looking over to Ray. 

There was a brief pause on the other end before Stantz answered. _‘Maybe.’_

 _“Rinne tú go maith, cosantóir dílis. An chuid eile anois,”_ Walter softly spoke to Egon, placing a hand directly on wound over the wolf’s liver. A green glow appeared from his palm, Ray inched closer to get a good look at the healing Peck was performing. Tissue and muscle were mended, a scar appearing once it was healed; the cut across Spengler’s chest was fully fixed, the wolf had a boost of energy shoot through him once Walter was done with him. 

The gold had disappeared from his eyes, Walter’s usual blue looking confused at his blood stained hand, and up at the wolf before him who graciously gave Peck a few wolf kisses on his jaw. He saw the door was still open, a knife on the floor and a few specks of blood on Peter and Egon’s noses; Peck rose and went over to shut the door, his breathing heavy, heart pounding in his ears.

 _‘He’s not gonna pass out, is he?’_ Peter took a step forward. 

“I mostly certainly am not,” Walter responded, freezing and whipped himself around to face Venkman. His eyes bugged out, darting between the three wolves. “What happened? I remember getting punched in the face …”

_‘Which you deserved.’_

“Enough, Venkman,” Peck growled before groaning and placing a palm to his temple from a headache he was receiving, sinking to the floor. His face twisted into utter confusion for what was happening to him, something was awakened when he got decked; it suddenly came to him while he watched the fight and ended it, only now he’s realizing that he has powers that he was becoming scared of. Walter started to hyperventilate, face turning red in wanting to unleash an unholy scream. 

_‘Walter … take it easy. Deep breaths. Can you hear me?’_

Ray’s voice reached out to him in his mind, but it was very distant. Peck snapped his wide eyed stare to the dark brown wolf approaching him, he repositioned himself on his knees, balancing himself with his fingertips on the floor. 

_‘Listen, you’re experiencing a subconscious awakening that is revealing a part of you that never existed until now. My theory is you’re most likely part Fae, given your ancestry. When that behemoth knocked you down, your Fae powers were unlocked from your subconscious and unleashed to the world.’_

“Christ … I need some damn aspirin. Could’ve sworn I heard you in my head,” Walter rubbed his face and head, rising to stride over to the kitchen. “Something about powers of … whatever the hell it was.” He downed two tablets in one big gulp of water. No, he needed something else to help him relax. Peck grabbed for a wine bottle and a glass, pouring it halfway subsequently getting more ice to nurse the bruises on his face. 

_‘Eh, he’ll come around. Give him some time, Ray.’_ Peter lounged by the large sofa. Walter had rejoined the four, sitting on the couch Spengler was occupying. The wolf rested his head on Peck’s leg, the human restraining himself for a moment before relaxing. He sighed, laying a hand on the black tinted wolf, absentmindedly petting him as he sipped his wine. Walter spotted Ray across the way, the wolf and him making eye contact; Stantz saw gold flash over his eyes, the dark brown wolf hobbling quickly over to him. 

“What happened to you?” Peck set his glass down, brows drawn together. He ran a hand over the wolf’s left shoulder, Ray sensing the flash in Walter’s eyes was nothing more than what it was. He really wanted to communicate with the Fae side of Peck. “Feels more like a bruise … doesn’t feel dislocated.”

 _‘And how the hell would he know that?’_ Peter raised his head. 

_‘He’s right, Venkman … I_ thought _it was dislocated.’_ Ray looked to Peter then turning back to Peck. _‘Walter, if you can hear me, say something.’_

There was that tingle again. Peck froze, his stare intense as he gazed into Ray’s mismatched eyes.

 _‘No way he can’t hear us, right?’_ Walter’s stare found Venkman looking up at him, that tingling in the back of his mind came and went as his eyes darted between the three. _‘Walter, if you can hear me, I’m thinking of having one of your kitty cats for din-din. How does that make you feel?’_

Peck shot Venkman a death glare with those wide blue eyes of his. “If I heard you correctly, Venkman, you were going to eat one of my cats. I will tape that mouth shut and let you starve do I make myself clear?” The light brown colored wolf whined, putting his head down on his paws. “Good. It’s like I’m hearing all of you talk at me if you all were human.” A hairless cat jumped onto the back of the sofa, making a beeline for Peck. “Hello, Claire, sweetie.” Walter scratched the feline’s chin, Shadow also wanting in on the pets and scratches. As if two animals wanting attention wasn’t enough, the large wolf on the sofa exposed his belly; Peck at first didn’t think nothing of it as he rubbed the wolf’s belly, his glare meeting the other three wolves. 

“Mention this to anyone and I will skin you.” The rest of the evening was quiet, thankfully. Walter read a couple chapters of a novel, Peter and Winston trotted around the apartment trying not to knock over anything as they played; Egon hadn’t moved from his spot on the sofa, he was now partially laying on Walter who was slouched in his seat on the end of he couch. His left leg was up on the sofa, right leg lazily splayed out, one hand petting the half awake wolf as the other rubbed the top of Ray’s head. Walter was craving something sweet this time of night, he started to rise, the black wolf on him groaning. 

“Yes, I know, I’m sorry, just getting a little something.” Peck shuffled to the kitchen, reaching up to a snack cupboard. He sighed to himself, taking out a Twinkie packet. Two golden cakes were begging to be opened as he pulled it out, the sound of crinkling wrap caught the wolves’ attention. Walter came back to the sofa, Egon was practically on top of him once he smelled the Twinkies. 

“Back,” Peck held the snack away from the wolf, the beast not heeding. “I said, back up.” Spengler groaned, finally obeying. “Now sit.” The black tinted wolf eagerly sat down, licking his lips. “Good boy.” Peck tore off a piece of the Twinkie, tossing it to Egon who caught it and devoured the morsel in one gulp. Walter sat back down and resumed his lounging position. “Boys, come.” Three wolves were on him at the command, Peck tore off a share of the snack cake and fed each wolf one piece. “I want to thank you all for what you’ve done. I have to admit, I’m grateful.” 

There was a half segment left for himself, Peck almost popped the whole thing in his mouth when he felt Egon’s gold eyed stare on him. Walter and the black tinted wolf had a brief staring contest, the human eventually losing. 

“Fine,” he sighed, tearing the piece and tossing it to the wolf, Peck having the last segment for himself which was fine, he wasn’t one to eat an entire Twinkie due to the contents. Claire and Shadow hung about the back and arm rest of the sofa, softly purring; Spengler resumed his position on top of Peck’s lower half, his large body barely fitting the rest of the couch. Winston and Ray were positioned close by, the former laying on the adjacent sofa and the latter on the floor in front of the ottoman. Peter had put himself back up on said piece of furniture, curled up, his tail covering his nose.

An hour later, Walter was half asleep, humming the same tune he was singing earlier. This caught the wolves’ attention once more, ears intently listening to the song. Finally, Peck opened his mouth and sang out loud.

_“As I was walking_  
_Down by the loch_  
_As I was a-walking one morning of late_  
_Who should I spy_  
_But my dear own comrade?_  
_Wrapped up in flannel_  
_So hard is his fate.”_

Egon rested his head back down on Peck’s stomach, Peter resumed his curled position, Winston and Ray following suit; Walter cracked his eyes open to stare into Spengler’s gold eyed gaze as he continued to sing. 

_“I boldly stepped up to_  
_And kindly did ask him_  
_Why are you wrapped in flannel so white?_  
_My body is injured_  
_And sadly disordered_  
_All by a young woman_  
_My own heart’s delight.”_

Walter pet and rubbed the cheeks of the black wolf laying on top of him, his hand gliding along the soft fur of the wolf’s head. The three wolves around him were having sleep come over them while Peck sang on.

_“Oh had she but told me_  
_When she disordered me_  
_Had she but told me of it at the time_  
_I might have got salts_  
_Or pills of white mercury._  
_But now I’m cut down_  
_In the height of my prime.”_

The black wolf with brown tints gave a big yawn, putting his head back down, gold eyes drooping. Walter kept soothing them with his singing, the words making his eyes water, he resumed gently petting the wolf’s head. 

_“Get six pretty maidens_  
_To carry my coffin_  
_And six pretty maidens_  
_To bear up my pall_  
_And give each of them_  
_Bunches of roses_  
_That they may not smell me_  
_As they go along.”_

The wolf on top of him had fallen asleep, as had the others. Walter gingerly got himself out from under, shutting off lights and crept to his bedroom. He was about to shut the door when something was blocking it; Spengler was looking up at him, pleading to sleep on the bed. 

“Does she let you sleep with her?” Knowing the person in question, Peck could see Egon’s tail gently wag. There was a tingle in the back of his mind as he stared into the wolf’s gold eyes, not hearing a human voice but a hum in affirmation. “Well, I’m not Janine. But after the times you’ve protected me, I’ll allow it.” He opened the door more for the wolf to come through. “Lord knows who else has the bright idea to try and rob me.” 

The wolf was about to hop on the bed before Walter stopped him. “Ah-ah, no. You sleep on the floor. If I find you on the bed come morning, we’ll have a little obedience lesson.” The wolf groaned and huffed, laying himself down at the foot of the bed. Peck sighed to himself, changing into his pajamas and crawled into bed, turning out the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, lots to talk about. 
> 
> So the words Peck says in Gaelic are as follows, in the order they are spoken:  
> "Do no harm to the wolf!"  
> "Release him."  
> "It's alright, little one."  
> "You did well, loyal protector. Rest now."
> 
> The song Walter sings is from 'Ballad of Buster Scruggs', it's in the last story of that movie, the song is titled 'The Unfortunate Lad'. Brendan Gleeson sings it and it's so touching. 
> 
> Wicked has a headcanon that Peck is part Fae, and I think it's fitting to him, so VIOLA


	8. Chapter 8

Walter had a series of strange dreams as he slept through the night; one he was vividly having that caused him to have sleep paralysis involved a craggy formation overlooking a vast sea. On top of the crags was a large man with his back turned to Walter who had his hand outreached in an attempt to have the man face him. He was within reach, but the surroundings changed, a deep woods with fog covering every inch; Peck whipped around, eyes wildly darting to find the tall man, soon finding himself alone. Voices that reached to his ears were in a language he couldn’t understand at first until they became clearer. 

_He is here …_ they whispered, _he is awakened … welcome, half-brother … son of Arthur … we must sanctify the blessings within you …_

Peck was lifted into the air by five feet, feeling the wind get sucked out of him as he deeply gasped once he felt his body grow ice cold that immediately turned into fire. In the real world, the black wolf heard Walter breathe heavily through his nose in quick breaths that tremored with each exhale; Spengler hopped onto the bed, cautious at first but saw the human was stiff as a board, sweat on his brow and looked ready to scream. The wolf laid down, resting his paws and head on Walter’s abdomen, in hopes to ground him back into a calm sleep; in his dream, Peck was silently screaming as the piercing fire continued to bathe him, praying for it to end. The voices whispered in that strange tongue that seemed foreign to him, yet he spoke it himself when he was protecting the wolves who were doing the same for him. 

_Beware the wolf-born … protect the guardians … this is what we ask of you, half-brother … safeguard the protectors of your realm … make them whole again, so that they may banish the wolf-born from harming others …_

Walter saw silhouettes as he stared out into the fog, the fire subsiding and he was gently set back down. There was one tall shadow and four recognizable ones in the thick mist, the four distinct figures morphed into canid beasts; then the dream ended abruptly, the feeling of falling leading into a sudden waking state caused Walter to snap his eyes open and take a deep breath. The first image he saw was Shadow standing on his chest looking down at him, her eyes gleaming in the moon’s light; there was a pressure on his abdomen, Peck craned his head to find a wolf with his paws and head laying on his stomach. Claire was nuzzled next to Peck’s left side, fast asleep and purring. Walter felt the tingle in the back of his mind, sensing why they were gathered around him was he had sleep paralysis due to the dream he just had. 

“I told you not to come up here,” Peck mumbled to the black tinted wolf who darted his eyes to the human. He sighed. “But you were concerned so … I’ll allow it.” He moved his arm out from under the covers and draped it over the wolf’s neck, Peck turned his gaze to Shadow. “You all must have a sixth sense if my paralysis was that bad.” Walter got comfortable in bed once more, his drooping eyes closing and drifted to a more peaceful sleep. 

It was a Saturday. He looked forward to weekend mornings in bed, sleeping in. But what happened at six in the morning that Saturday, Walter was ready to murder someone. A short howl broke out in the living room, quieting down before starting back up again; two other voices joined in, Peck’s eyes snapping open. Spengler sat up on the bed and threw his head back, his deep howl sending a shiver down Walter’s spine. He shuffled to the bedroom door, opening to see Ray, Winston, and Peter being the instigators of the group howl; Peck had a frown on his face with the sleepy eyes glaring the wolves down once the howl stopped after almost two minutes. 

“It is six in the goddamn morning, other people live in this building and I do not want knocks on my door because I will very much murder the first person that does so,” Walter snarled at the three wolves in the living room, a low howl started behind him, Peck turned around and jabbed a finger at Egon. “Don’t start.” The black wolf ceased his call, looking sorry and pulled puppy dog eyes at Peck who gave him an annoyed glare.

Walter had four wolves in tow once they got out of his apartment building and started the trek to the firehouse; Peck noticed something changed in Ray, the whole morning the dark brown wolf was on edge. The usual bright eyed look the wolf had shifted to a predatory gaze that matched Egon’s, he never let his vocalizations get past a small growl which was unlike him to act in such a way; Winston and Peter sensed the change in Ray, almost avoiding him and Spengler due to the energy those two were creating. 

_‘I feel like something’s gonna blow up.’_ Peter glanced over at Winston as they walked through Central Park.

 _‘Man, with Egon completely losing himself and Ray going the same direction … I’d hate to see Ray rage. We gotta find those last four pieces.’_ The pitch black wolf stopped in his tracks, sniffing the air. _‘Speaking of which …’_

Ray, Egon, and Peter stopped as well, looking the same direction Winston was gazing at, their noses twitching as they picked up a scent. 

“Do not bolt off like you did last night,” Peck held onto the leads tight. “Show me where it is.” 

Walter was almost jogging to keep up with the wolves’ gaits as they loped and trotted to Bethesda Terrace to the large round fountain where dozens were gathered in lounging about or walking past it. The four wolves stopped a foot from the fountain’s edge, the pack collectively whining. 

“You can’t be serious,” Walter protested at them, the tingling in the back of his mind telling him the fragment is in the water. “Only _one_ of you will go in and get it. The rest of you will stay with me.” He unhooked Winston’s lead, the pitch black wolf leaped into the fountain, treading through the waters, eyes peeled for a patina stained bronze piece. Peck caught Ray peeling his lips back in a snarl at Egon who was doing the same thing, the two wolves growling at each other. 

“Hey,” Walter tightened the leads, giving a quick jerk, “knock it off, you two or I will neuter you both.” That seemed to quiet the two down, Winston snapped his head up with a piece of bronze in his mouth, wading and trotting through the water and hopped out, shaking himself from head to toe. The pitch black wolf looked proud of himself as he presented Walter the fragment, Peck took it from the wolf’s mouth, flipping it over before shaking it of excess water. “I’m proud of you, but you’ll be getting no pets from me, you’re absolutely drenched.” Winston groaned, pawing his muzzle for attention; Peck sighed, rolling his eyes and indulged the wolf in a short scratch on the wolf’s snout. “There, happy?”

The rest of the walk remained uninterrupted for the most part. A slender woman with hair bordering between blonde and ginger walked from the other direction, her eyes fixed on her phone, accidentally bumping into Walter. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she apologized, giving Walter a nervous chuckle, “should watch where I’m going.” She brushed back a strand behind her ear, her blue eyes meeting Peck’s own blue eyed gaze; he briefly had a split second moment of being captivated by her looks before clearing his throat. 

“It’s, it’s alright, miss,” he stammered, “have a good day.” 

The woman gave a small smile, continuing to walk in the direction she was heading, her lips forming a smirk; Artemis went behind her twin brother Apollo’s back, slipping the third to last fragment into Peck’s coat pocket. She wanted her brother’s plan to succeed, yes, but finding the last two pieces would be maddening; in a few weeks it will be futile to search for them, no other choice but to have the wolves be claimed by the rightful masters – her and Apollo.

 _‘Hey, Winston … does she seem familiar to you?’_

_‘Yeah … did you get a warm vibe coming from her?’_

_‘You betcha. I got a strong want to go home with her …’_

_‘Same, Pete.’_

“Are you two coming or just going to stand there and gawk,” Peck called to the two wolves who were slacking off. Winston and Peter gave one last look to where Artemis had gone before trotting up to Walter, the pack making the final trek back to the firehouse undisturbed. 

“There’s my boys!” Kylie shouted as soon as she saw the door open and the four wolves enter headquarters. She practically ran over to them, Winston and Peter wagging their tails, sometimes curling them like a husky; Peck rolled his eyes at the affection Kylie was giving the pitch black and light brown colored wolves. She was about to do the same to Ray and Egon before Peck warned her. 

“Be best to steer clear of contact with these two,” he told her. “They almost fought on the way here.” 

Kylie furrowed her brows, petting Venkman as the wolf stood up, his paws draped over her shoulders. “I know Janine’s mentioned Egon’s been aggressive lately to the others …”

“It’s Dr. Stantz who keeps egging him on.”

“Ray?!” Kylie glanced down at the wolf in question, the dark brown wolf was giving Spengler the side eye with a low growl. “Boss, are you okay?” The wolf didn’t respond, putting Kylie on edge. “Ray? Dr. Stantz?” Ray continued his rumbling, his head turning at a slow pace towards Egon, the black wolf with brown tints answering back with his own deep growl. 

“Quiet,” Peck snarled at the two, the growling wolves ceasing their vocalizing. Walter dug into his coat pocket to grab the fragment Winston found, but discovered another piece with it; he briefly drew his brows together, smoothing them out as he handed Kylie the artifacts. “I believe Mr. Zeddemore deserves extra treats for finding the final pieces.”

“Good boy, Winston! You are such a good boy,” Kylie ruffled the cheeks of the wolf, the pitch black wolf showering her with wolf kisses. 

Peck took Venkman and Winston out of their harnesses, the wolves shaking themselves before loping off to Janine. “Behave while I get you two out of these,” Walter instructed Ray and Egon, unbuckling the harness that kept the large wolves from causing damage; there was a brief pause between the two, but it never lasted long – Ray went for Egon’s throat, the black wolf with brown highlights fighting back; their growls and various vocal sounds filled the firehouse as they fought, Peck sprinted to the safety of Janine’s desk, Kylie got the same idea as well. 

Venkman tried to intervene to let the aggression be taken out on him, being the omega of the small pack; both Egon and Ray bit and nipped at Peter, only leading the fight back to each other. The dark brown wolf had a grip on the injured shoulder Egon endured last night, the black wolf yelping in pain; he bit at Ray’s face, eventually tearing the tip of Stantz’s left ear off. 

Janine sharply whistled above the growls and snarls. “That’s enough!” she yelled at them, but her words were not heard. 

“Isn’t there a tranquilizer somewhere in this place?!” Peck cried out. 

“Do you wanna lose a hand in the process?” Kylie whipped her gaze to him. 

_‘Is Ray trying to claim the alpha spot?’_ Winston glanced at Peter, licking what wounds the smaller wolf endured. 

_‘I dunno … but whatever is going on with him, I don’t EVER wanna get in his way if he goes on a rampage like this again.’_

The two raging wolves continued to thrash and bite at each other, little specks of blood dotted the floor of the firehouse; the dark brown wolf was about to top the black wolf with brown tints when Ray suddenly snapped to his senses, leaving him wide open for Spengler to wrap his jaws around Ray’s throat, and wrestle him to the ground, the dark brown wolf’s snarls and barks were swapped with whines and yelps. 

_‘I give! I give! Egie! Let go!’_ Ray felt the jaws tighten around his throat, his whines increasing in pitch. _‘Zee! Venkman! Help!’_

Winston leaped to the rescue, nipping at the black tinted wolf’s right leg, getting a lightning reaction from the alpha; Venkman got between Winston and the aggressive wolf, submitting and letting himself be open to be the pack’s punching bag. The omega was met with bites from its alpha, whining and yelping as the beating continued. 

_‘Ray, what the hell is going on with you?!’_ Winston gave a light growl to Ray.

_‘It’s happening, Zee … this is it … I’m sorry.’_

“That is quite enough, Doctor Spengler!” Peck shrieked at the top of his lungs, maneuvering in front of the desk. His glare was met with Egon’s feral stare, the black wolf nearly leaping to attack Walter when Mel showed up just in time to lasso an animal catcher’s pole noose around his throat. Peck fell backward onto the desk, eyes wide with terror from the mauling that almost happened. The black tinted wolf thrashed about, the rope getting tighter and tighter; the dark brown wolf saw an opportunity to attack the wrangled wolf, biting at vulnerable spots with Spengler managing to fight back.

“Ray! Enough!” Janine shouted.

“Rookie! Get the other pole!” Mel shouted, Bryan ducking into Ecto and fetched the other catcher’s pole, getting the noose around Ray’s neck. The two wolves kept fighting even as the ropes tightened, everyone witnessing the insanity felt a weight drop into their stomachs; both wolves had feral gazes in their eyes as the fight gradually ceased due to the lack of oxygen, but their snarls and growls remained though distorted by the pole nooses. 

“Ron! The muzzles!” Ortiz barked, the Chicago Ghostbuster obliging with a smirk. Mel got herself on the black tinted wolf, wrestling it to the floor; Rookie did his best with Ray, eventually getting the wolf on the ground. “A little help here, please. Walter, get Egon. Kylie, you muzzle Ray.” 

As if nearly meeting his death the first time those years ago wasn’t enough, Peck pulled himself from the desk after brushing close to death this time around, his feet shuffling on the floor towards the FBI agent and manhandled wolf; he faintly shook as he got on his knees, taking the muzzle from Alexander. The black wolf with brown tints struggled underneath Mel, nearly getting out if Walter didn’t put his weight on the wolf; Peck saw the unbridled rage in Spengler’s eye as he fastened the muzzle on quick, breathing heavily and shook as he rose. Kylie was experiencing the same emotions putting the muzzle on Ray; she couldn’t see any sign of her boss in those mismatched eyes, they only read aggression. 

“What … what do we do with them? Are they gonna stay this way?” Rookie asked, keeping his grip on Stantz. 

“Keep them separated, for one,” Mel panted, still pinning Egon to the floor. “We gotta let these two cool off.” She looked up at Walter. “In Ecto, there’s a couple tranquilizer darts, can you get them for me?” Dazed after the action that ended a short while ago, Peck managed to get what was needed. Mel took one of the darts, sticking Egon with one; the black tinted wolf’s snarls dwindled down to a groan as the world around him faded to black. Once it was clear, Ortiz got up and did the same to Stantz, the dark brown wolf’s movements becoming still as the sedative took hold of him. 

The humans gathered around the sedated wolves, Janine knelt at Egon’s side, running a hand along his body, her hand revealing small smears of blood once she pulled it away. Winston and Peter gingerly sniffed Ray and Egon, both of them whining softly; Kylie soothed them with gentle pets, anxiety and fear in her eyes as she watched the steady rise and fall of Ray’s breathing. Seeing what Ray would do should rage and fury consume him frightened her to the core, if aggression in this form was anything to go buy … imagine if they fought like they did in human form. She tried to shake the image out of her head, rising to walk upstairs, Venkman and Winston following right behind her. 

_‘This is not looking good at all. Ray was there, sort of. But I do not wanna know what the end of the month will bring if we don’t find the last two pieces.’_ Winston was expecting a response from Peter but got none. The pitch black wolf whined softly. _‘Pete? You there?’_

Another minute of silence from the light brown wolf before an answer came. _‘Sorry, Winston. Slipped away for a moment.’_

 _‘Shit, now you’re starting to go. Don’t leave me, Pete. Promise me.’_

_‘I’m sorry, Zed, but I think I’m reaching the end of my rope here. Almost, anyway.’_

Winston whined audibly for Kylie to hear, she turned around furrowing her brows. 

“Winston? What’s wrong, bud?” she knelt, petting the wolf’s head. Winston glanced over at Peter and back to her. “Has Peter been absent?” 

_‘Starting to be.’_ Peter corrected her, bowing his head and gave a worry look in his eyes. 

“I’m so sorry, you guys,” Kylie sniffled, hugging both wolves. 

 

“I’ll take Egon back to my place,” Janine rose.

“Are you sure that’s even safe?” Peck glanced down at her. 

“He does have a point,” Mel agreed. 

“Look, aggressive or not, when he’s there, he stays grounded and relatively calm,” she reasoned. “There’s a small sliver of him that’s fighting to hang on, I know it.”

“Maybe, and all due respect, Miss Melntiz -,”

“That makes me feel old, kid, coming from you.”

“Maybe we should keep them on the premises,” Rookie finished his suggestion. “That way, we can easily handle them in case they lash out again. It’ll spell danger if one person takes either home and no way to keep an eye on them.” He looked to Janine. “Sorry.”

Janine deeply sighed through her nose, staring at the knocked out wolf that was deeply slumbering. “Ah, don’t be, kid. I get where you’re coming from.” 

“So, when can we cage ‘em? I got some shock collars we can use,” Ron sneered in a mischievous manner.

“Cage would be too small, and shock collars? Do we want to antagonize them?” Mel gave Ron a hard stare. 

They all stared down at the sedated beasts, each having thoughts of their own running through their minds, Rookie eventually asking the question. 

“So … what do we do?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it!

A week passed, then another. The search for the last two fragments was reaching an unfortunate end, hopes were being dashed as the last week of the month approached. In that two week period, it was clear Ray and Egon were no longer who they were; they were separated in the firehouse, both chained to a more sturdy part of headquarters. Ray would seem himself one minute but try to pet him and the wolf would bite at anyone, his lips peeled back in a snarl; Egon paced about the part of the lab he was kept in, leaping at anyone who came too close to take a chance and tear at a limb. One silver lining in all of this was the only people who were able to get the wolves to behave (and get close enough) were Walter and Janine. Peck was discovering his newfound Fae abilities to communicate with animals, but that only scratched the surface; despite his current state, Spengler was able to identify Janine and let her be able to be near him. 

She was often found with the small sofa pulled to where they had chained Egon up, the two curled up on the love seat when she napped. Anyone approaching them or standing feet away while calling Janine’s name would cause the black wolf with brown tints to stand guard and growl aggressively at the intruder; the cage muzzles were opted for rope muzzles that allowed the wolves to eat and drink, but were handy in case of biting which happened frequently. 

Venkman was getting in the same boat of losing himself, though he would act skittish around everyone, the omega mindset strong with him. He’d often approach Egon and immediately submit as the alpha nipped at him to let out aggression, Winston often being the only one to be himself for the most part. The black wolf often protected Peter when they visited Ray down in the basement, the dark brown wolf wanting to bite the hell out of Venkman. Business continued as usual, searches for the fragments came up empty handed, the last week of the month found the group with heavy hearts with no sight of returning the guys to normal. 

That is, until a familiar face walked in to the firehouse. 

Apollo held a subtle smirk under his ginger facial hair, a glint in his eyes as he strolled up to the desk. 

“We’re taking no cases at this time …,” Janine started, lifting her head to the person who just walked in, her face dropping into a scowl once she saw who it was. 

“I believe you have something for me,” Apollo declared in a soft tone, his brows knitting together in an inquiring way but knowing full well Janine knows what it is he needs. He could hear Ray and Egon whine and whimper to be released and join him, the god telepathically calling to them they will be at his side in due time.

“Snowball’s chance in hell, pal,” she muttered, ready to commit murder. 

Apollo sighed. “Pity.” He pulled into his coat pocket. “Then … I don’t suppose you’ll be needing these.” In his hand were the last two artifacts of the bronze wolf head. 

Janine’s expression changed, the fragments were there taunting her. The last pieces of the puzzle. And they were within reach. She extended a hand to take them, Apollo pulling his hand back. 

“Hand them over, and I’ll give these two fragments to you,” Apollo straightened himself, staring Janine down with determination. “Or option two. There’s a special component once these are all together that can set them free of the curse. Find it, they’ll be free of this horrible predicament, and I’ll leave them alone. If you can’t figure it out by, say, midnight, I await you all in Central Park.” 

“Mister, I don’t think you’re aware of the library we got tucked away here,” Janine seemed confident in her words. “We can find whatever it is that’s special to the bronze head.” 

“And what if you aren’t?” That subtle grin was back in the corners of Apollo’s lips.

“Then …,” Janine balled up her fists her nails almost cut into her palms, “fine. We’ll hand them over.” 

“Deal, then. Meet me at Umpire Rock.” Apollo placed the last two objects on the desk, turning on his heels and exited, the smirk extended to match that of the Cheshire Cat. 

“Ray was going crazy downstairs a little bit ago,” Rookie announced as he exited the basement, “he seemed to really want to come upstairs.”

“Egon just about broke free from wall fixture,” Mel came down the stairs. She saw Janine pick up the last two pieces, her eyes widening. “Janine … are those …”

The red headed secretary nearly barreled into the FBI agent getting to the stairs and flew up to Kylie hunched over tomes and books on the coffee table. As soon as the fragments were dropped before her, the goth’s eyes lit up with the last sliver of hope she had left in her. Kylie picked up the two pieces, dashing to where she had the bronze head mapped out with the pieces in order. As she set the last two fragments down, Kylie and those gathered close around her had hoped for it to complete itself; she picked up a couple pieces to get it started … but nothing. 

The fragments remained motionless. The busted bronze head laughing in their faces as hopeful gazes dropped to imminent doom. 

“I … I don’t understand …,” Kylie tried fitting two more pieces together. “They’re … they’re all here, they should come together on their own, right?”

“There’s a snag,” Janine told her. “Apollo said there’s a special component to having this put back together and the guys free. If we find it, he’ll leave us all alone. If not …” The thought of being separated from Egon for eternity nearly unleashed a scream from the depths of her core, Janine held herself together, “if not, by midnight, we’re to meet him in Central Park with the guys and the pieces.” 

“Did he specify?” Kylie looked ready to scream in frustration. “What component?!” 

“I-I don’t know, he didn’t say!” 

Mel placed firm but gentle hands on Kylie’s shoulders to bring her down to earth. “Whatever it is, I’m sure the guys might have what we need to put this thing back together indefinite.”

Kylie looked to the clock, the minute hand ticking away the late afternoon into early evening. “We don’t have much time. Seven hours. Let’s make it count.” 

Those seven dwindled to four, the entire library the Ghostbusters had searched through, databases on the computer causing eye strains; Janine opted out to sit with Egon as four became two hours to go. Walter glanced over to check on her now and then as he was hunched over books, her eyes puffy from tears, her grip on the black tinted wolf tightened; the wolf in her arms had taken upon himself to offer small wolf kisses under her chin with the rope muzzle around his snout. 

“Egon, no matter what happens,” she whispered into his ear, “I will always, _always_ love you.” Her declaration was answered with a gentle lick to her cheeks, tears that rolled down them were wiped away. She held onto him tighter, burying her face into his fur.

Kylie felt a lead weight in her stomach as she looked up at the clock. Quarter past eleven, forty-five minutes to midnight; she even went back through all her research into Apollo and the bronze wolf head, there had to have been something missing from it. 

“Has there been any instances of the bronze head breaking and put together some way?” Rookie softly asked Kylie as time was running short, leaning on opened books across from her. 

“Never, this might be the first time it’s broken,” she sighed, propping her head up. “I don’t think there’s any recorded occurrences or even what to do in case it does break.” She sat up, leafing through a spell book. “There’s binding spells, but none of them would be able to reverse the curse at the same time of …” An entry caught her eye, she leaned in closer to it, reading aloud, “There are some spells only the gods know themselves that daren’t be recited from mortal mouths. Any mortal who dares speaks the language of the gods will become mute and bad luck onto them for they will have angered the gods.” 

“So, there _is_ a binding spell … but only Apollo would know about it,” Mel joined by Kylie’s side. “I have no problem beating this scumbag up to get a spell out of him.”

“Just because he’s in his earthly form doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous,” Kylie spoke as she dogeared a page from the book, shoving it into her bag. She gave one last look at the clock. “We better get down there.”

To everyone’s unsettling surprise, Egon and Ray behaved and looked like themselves before they completely lost it, eyes focused and alert, though there was something else in their gazes that gave everyone the indication it was Apollo the two wolves were patiently waiting to be taken to. Winston refused to climb into Ecto-1, his body language nervous, ears pinned back and tail tucked, eyes with worry on the brow. 

“I’m sorry, Winston, buddy,” Kylie crouched, petting the pitch black wolf on his head. “But we gotta go.” She glanced over her shoulder, turning back to the wolf. “I got a plan, though. I hope it works. Trust me on this, Winston. If … if it doesn’t work … then … I tried …”

 _‘I understand, Kylie. It won’t be your fault.’_ The wolf put a paw on her shoulder, almost nodding. Kylie took it as a sign that he trusted her and that he understood whatever happens, happens. 

 

Apollo had crouched on Umpire Rock, taking the night air, he could sense them drawing closer as the grin remained constant on his lips. 

“You look like you’ve already won,” Artemis was heard behind him.

“And I have.” He paused, turning his head slightly to his left. “You think I’ve lost.”

“I only come to give you a warning, dear brother.”

“A warning? You think mortals are going to outsmart me? They don’t know of the binding spell that I alone can recite to permanently fuse the sculpture back together.”

“If there’s one thing that never falters from you, brother, is your stubbornness and arrogance.” Artemis heard her twin brother scoff. “Fine. I’ll leave you to it. If I come back to find you defeated, mother and father will be sorely disappointed in you.”

“Aren’t they always,” came the flat response, his grin faltered as he nervously picked at his fingernail. A rustle in the trees alerted Apollo that his sister had left him, the god by himself as he stared out at the vast green of Central Park. This centuries old scheme has worked flawlessly until two months ago when one of the Ghostbusters read the spell wrong and broke it, he knew there would be no way for the mortals to get the spell out of him. He will be given the fragments and the wolves. 

He heard Ecto-1 approached, Apollo rising to his feet as he saw Janine and Mel approach him with the four wolves; Peck and Kylie came in behind them with Rookie and Ron bringing up the rear, the latter and Mel equipped with the proton packs. 

Apollo faintly knitted his brows, slightly cocking his head at the sight of the three mortals with the weaponry on their backs, straightening himself as Janine unclipped the leads from Ray and Egon’s collars, the last remaining piece of their identity that had the tags which bore their names. With a quick snap of Apollo’s fingers, the collars came off, dropping to the ground; he gave the secondary whistle to summon his wolves, a quick low note that stepped up and held it for two seconds before it escalated to a higher pitch note. Immediately the wolves obeyed, heeding to their master’s call, jumping onto the large rock and sat on either side of him; Apollo noticed Ray was missing part of his ear, the god giving the torn ear a quick rub, the wolf’s ear growing back as if it wasn’t missing. Winston got a faint shiver down his spine as this reminded him of their meeting with Gozer on the rooftop of the Shandor building; the look in the terror dogs’ eyes matched the same stare in Egon and Ray’s – predatorial, intense. 

“I believe you have other things that belong to me,” Apollo held out his hand. 

“I don’t see these two begging to go to you,” Mel held the leads tight on Peter and Winston’s collars. 

“I have given them to my sister, Artemis. Nonetheless, I shall be taking them as well.”

“You have no right to be doing this,” Janine took a step forward, anger in her voice. The resting wolves at Apollo’s sides rose to their feet, growling. Walter cautiously held Janine back, getting in front of the group. He remembered Apollo’s face from the night in the alley, now putting a name to said countenance. 

“I am Walter Peck, head of the Paranormal Contract Oversight Commission, I oversee the Ghostbusters and keep tabs on their whereabouts. I demand you release these four from the curse you have put them under, they are valuable to this city and this realm. If you do not do as I demand, there will be consequences to your action.” 

Apollo stared Peck down. Was this mortal serious? Though something lay beneath the surface of him that Apollo knew to be true. 

“I see you, half-Fae,” Apollo put his hands into the pockets of his trousers, appearing dominant. “But you’re wasting my time. Hand over the rest and the fragments, and no one will get hurt.” 

“Release these men from the curse and we’ll give you the artifacts,” Walter demanded, taking a step. 

Apollo sighed. “Mortals.” He pulled his right hand out, sending a flash of fire down the party, the flames struck against a barrier of golden light. Peck lowered his crossed arms once the fire dissipated, Apollo seeing the man’s irises had turned to gold. The god had an intrigued gaze in his eye, Walter had started to form lightning in his palms before firing a streak towards Apollo who redirected it into the sky. The god swept his hand horizontally, sending a gust of wind that knocked everyone but Walter off their feet, Apollo picked the pouch containing the fragments from Kylie, the black bag levitating over to its rightful owner. 

“You dare strike me,” Apollo growled. “I am Apollo, the wolf-born, son of Zeus. Powers such as yours are futile against me.”

“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Ron grumbled as he got up. “Your plan better work, Spooky.”

“Peck just needs to stall him enough for us to get a clear shot at Apollo,” Kylie muttered, staying low. 

“And if he incapacitates Peck?” Mel got on one knee, catching her breath.

“We’ll still get a shot at him, get him to recite the binding spell,” Kylie grit her teeth. “This has to work.”

“I’ve encountered beings that are just as arrogant as you are,” Peck sneered, gold eyes glowing in the moon’s light, “you’re no different from them. You may have your powers, but you hide behind those who serve you.” He served up another bolt of lightning getting an answer from the god with another flash of flames, Peck blocking the attack. “Come down here and fight me as the real you.”

Apollo’s frown turned into a Cheshire Cat grin. “Ooh, you tempt me, Walter Peck.” He could see in his peripheral that five people were getting into position, the god turned his palm upward and raised his hand, a wall of fire separating them from Apollo and Peck. 

“Shit!” Mel cried out, reaching for the flames but was met with an outburst of fire from the wall. 

“This is bad, really bad,” Rookie whined, gulping hard. 

“Walter!” Janine shouted. 

Apollo smirked. “Show me who you really are, Walter Peck. Unleash the powers you hold. We’ll see if you are a match for a god.” 

The ground around Walter tremored, he took a running start before flying towards Apollo with a fist full of energy forming into a flaming orb of bright green light. Before he could even land the punch, the two wolves flanking the god leaped up, the dark brown wolf sinking his jaws into Walter’s shoulder, and the black wolf with brown tints tore into Peck’s right side. The impact of the wolves sent Walter crashing back onto the ground, the beasts on top of him tearing into his flesh. The black tinted wolf’s fangs dug into his abdomen, working his way to an arm as did the dark brown wolf. Both beasts had a strong hold of Walter’s arms, pulling them out; a dark beast approached them, eyes of green piercing Peck’s golden eyed glare. Apollo had transformed himself into a wolf the size of a black bear, his sandy colored fur appearing orange in the fire wall’s light.

 _‘Pathetic,’_ Walter heard Apollo say to him in his mind. _‘Is that all you got?’_

Peck snarled, taking a deep breath, letting out a scream that sent a shockwave through the enclosure, the wolves knocked off him. The beasts recovered, circling the half-Fae, lips peeled back in snarls; Walter gradually rose, releasing another streak of green fire at Apollo who dodged, fangs sinking into Peck’s left shoulder, he felt more teeth sink into his flesh as the dark brown wolf grabbed his right forearm and the black wolf with brown tints went after his right side again. Walter cried out, the shockwave getting him free of the wolves; he got to his feet, forming another orb of green fire between his hands and sent it towards Apollo. 

The tan colored wolf was hit in the side once he was up on his feet, hitting Umpire Rock as the green fireball struck him. The dark brown wolf bit into Walter’s thigh, dragging him to take the man down; Peck got him off by sending a small shock to the wolf, the beast yelping. Apollo quickly rose, his form assuming an anthropomorphic shape, the tan colored beast snarling as he threw a curveball of lightning back at Peck who caught it just in time to redirect it into the night sky. Apollo roared, getting on all fours and rammed Walter to the ground, sending claws to slash at his chest. 

A figure emerged through the wall of fire, making a bee line for Apollo. Winston had taken upon himself to break free from Mel and break through, his fangs poised to bite Apollo. The anthropomorphic wolf felt teeth gouge into his arm, Apollo shaking the pitch black wolf loose; Walter flashed green fire in the god’s face as he scrambled away, gathering more energy to fire though his efforts cut short by two wolves bombarding him with deep bite marks. The two wolves who were Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler in another life dragged Walter down to the ground, nipping and gouging into his flesh; Peck shocked the wolves off him, rising to his feet when he felt two short metal arrows pierce his shoulder and side. 

The wall of fire dissipated revealing an ugly sight; Apollo was in his human form holding Winston by his scruff, his hand out with the palm up that sent the arrows towards Peck. He was sure to not hit any major organs with the arrow sticking out of Walter’s side, a smirk on his lips. The gold had started to fade from Walter’s widened eyes as he sunk to his knees, the two wolves on either side of him snarling. He had one last bit of power left in an attempt to sling green fire at Apollo, his arm ready to throw when the black wolf what was once Egon Spengler went for Peck’s throat, fangs just breaking the skin but not delivering the fatal bite, waiting for his master’s command to end the man’s life. The dark brown wolf who was Ray Stantz in a past life was on standby, his bloody lips peeled back. 

Jaws dropped at the scene before them, Janine rushed forward to Walter but was held back by Mel and Rookie, crying out at the top of her lungs. Ron grit his teeth, firing his proton stream at Apollo, hooking the god’s arm and yanked him to the side. Winston was dropped, the pitch black wolf leaping for Apollo’s throat; the dark brown wolf went to his master’s aide when a small lighter brown color wolf blocked him from reaching Apollo, both wolves snarling. The god was pinned by the wolf and these mortal’s technology that caused him to burn.

“Winston, move!” Mel called out, the black wolf moving away from Apollo. The god tried to release himself from Ron’s stream but was bound by Mel and Rookie with their streams.

“Apollo, wolf-born, son of Zeus,” Kylie addressed him, holding the spell book she had dogeared earlier opened to a page. “We summon your presence and command a bargain with your earthly form.”

The words twisted Apollo’s face into a snarl, those words binding him to whatever these mortals have to offer. His snarl changed into scowl, his thrashing about in the stream’s bonds ceasing. 

“What is it you offer me, mortal,” he growled. 

“Fuse the bronze wolf head together with the binding spell that only you know alone, releasing these four mortals from the curse that was bestowed upon them by your doing. In return, we won’t tear your essence apart and put them in separate traps, for we will banish you from this realm,” Kylie offered. She could see the anger in Apollo eyes. 

“They will not be freed from the curse even if I do bind the sculpture together,” Apollo snarled. “The last time it shattered and was made whole again, that person I tried to claim had changed back to their human self. I made sure if it happened again the victim will not transform back once the bust was fixed.”

“Then we command you to free them once the sculpture is formed into one whole piece,” Kylie corrected her deal. “And leave the sculpture with us so this never happens again. Our offer in return still stands. We don’t trap you and we banish you from this realm.”

Apollo softly growled. The urge to agree strong in his mind but gradually came out of his mouth. “My word is my bond, mortal. I will do as you ask.”

“And our word is our bond, Apollo, son of Zeus,” Kylie closed the book. Mel, Rookie, and Ron cut their streams, the god dusting himself off as he levitated the pouch over to him. 

His blue eyes briefly glanced over at the black wolf with brown highlights who still had his jaws wrapped around Walter’s throat, giving one last command to the wolf telepathically as he had the pieces float out of the bag and into the air in front of him, the pieces starting to come together, uttering the binding spell under his breath. Walter felt the wolf’s jaws close around him, the fangs sinking deeper at a snail’s pace, the injured man crying out, his eyes widening in terror from the slow death that was approaching.

“No!” Janine cried out, sprinting over to the pair. The wolf paused his command to give a warning bark, red on the wolf’s fangs and lips; Janine froze in her tracks, the beast taking himself a foot away from Peck, ready to strike at her when a wave of purple light flashed within a thirty foot radius. When the light disappeared, Apollo stood defeated, the wolf head appearing as if it wasn’t shattered in the first place. The four wolves had started to groan and whine, a dazed look in their eyes. The black wolf with brown tints looked around helplessly, whining, until a voice called his attention.

“Egon?” His head snapped towards the source. Janine stood a few feet away from him, nerves on her face in hopes he remembered who he was. Her voice was soft as she called again, “Egon, are you there?” He approached her, ears pinned back and tail slightly tucked; he reached out a paw that she saw gradually changed into a human hand as she took it in hers, the fur disappearing as human features became more prominent. Gold eyes changed into those brown eyes she fell in love with, his face appearing dazed when the last of the changes occurred. 

Egon found himself staring up into Janine’s relieved gaze, though exhaustion was overcoming him. He reached out his other hand to bring themselves together in an embrace, but his knelt position made way for him to fall over and submit to the overwhelming fatigue. Janine kneeled, still holding his hand as she kissed his temple and brushed a bit of his hair. She looked up to see the other three guys had changed back and collapse into a slumber; Mel rushed over to Walter, Rookie helping any way he could with applying pressure. 

Walter felt the world swim around him as he lay there bleeding; he could sense the darkness almost take him when fangs of death nearly pierced his arteries, but he was still losing blood from the other injuries he sustained. Hands pressed against the sides of neck to stop the flow, more hands applying pressure to his abdomen. He gave out a high pitched moan as the arrows were removed from his shoulder and side, almost fainting once the one that pierced his side was removed. 

“Stay with us, Walter,” Mel uttered, “please, stay with us …”

“Why did you do that?!” Kylie exclaimed to Apollo. 

“A sacrifice had to be made in order for the deal to be fulfilled,” he explained. “Even if his throat wasn’t ripped, he’ll eventually pass.”

“You and your sacrifices, brother,” a voice was heard from up on the rock. Artemis smirked at her twin brother, gliding down to the earth. “They didn’t offer you a sacrifice, them sparing your life from entrapment was enough. But you like to pull one last trick, don’t you.”

“He’ll … he’ll be alright, won’t he?” Kylie looked over to Mel and Rookie attending to Walter. 

“He will, little one, don’t worry,” Artemis gave a reassuring nod. “I told my dear brother not to underestimate mortals and look what happens when our quarry surrounds themselves with a pack of their own that looks out for one another.”

“I …,” Apollo sighed, “I must commend you all for the bond I see this pack has. It’s strong, and can’t be broken.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s all fine and whatever, now will you leave before I blast your ass to the nearest parallel dimension,” Ron grumbled, having enough of the touchy yammering. 

“Very well,” Apollo handed Kylie the wolf head. “This realm I will take my leave.” He looked to his twin sister, looking defeated as the wind rustled and he was gone in the blink of an eye; Artemis gave Kylie a small wink, leaving on the same breeze. 

“Kylie, you and Janine take care of the guys, there should be spare suits in Ecto,” Mel called out. “Bryan and I are gonna take Mr. Peck to the nearest hospital. Hey, Alexander, get over here and help.”

“I never wanna see these old farts in their birthday suits ever again,” Ron muttered as he jogged over to Mel and Rookie with helping to carry Peck back to Ecto-1. 

“I’ll get the suits, Janine,” Kylie volunteered, following close behind the four. Janine gave her a nod, sitting on the ground with Egon’s head resting on her lap. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, tears wetting her eyes, relieved to see him back to normal. 

“I love you, Egon,” she whispered, “it’s good to have you back.” Her heart fluttered as she saw him stir in his sleep, mumbling something under his breath that sounded like, 

“Love you, too.”

 

“Worse two months of my life, but damn it feels good to be back.”

“Man, what an experience! I can’t wait to write about what we felt.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe I stuck around in the end. You guys slipped fast. Especially you, Egon.”

“We should likely experience any last slivers of our past form as far as behavior is concerned. I suspect it could last to a week.”

“Any of you guys remember what happened the last three weeks? How different were any of us, Zee?”

“Well, for starters …,” Winston deeply sighed through his nose, not sure how to say it, “You did a complete 180, Ray. You and Egon got in a big fight like a couple of rabid dogs almost killing each other. Both of you were aggressive as hell, wanting to bite anything that came within reach.”

Ray’s face dropped, guilt coming over him, he glanced over to Egon. “Sorry, Spengsy.”

“I share the same sentiments, Raymond,” Egon somewhat slunk in his seat. “I’m not proud of my inability to control my actions and behavior.”

“Well, now you finally were able to release all that pent up aggression, Spengs,” Peter slouched, extending his feet out and intertwined his hands on his stomach. “Maybe you should do that more often. We should get you a punching bag.”

Venkman saw Egon give him a glare that made faint omega traces act up, Peter stifling a soft whine. 

“Or not. Just a thought.”

“If you four are done, listen to me.” Peck addressed the four that were visiting his hospital room, he could see the attention a dog would give you when speaking to it in their eyes; Walter tried to get himself comfortable, pleased that he got their undivided attention just like they had before in their old wolf forms. “I … I’m going to cut to the chase … I recently discovered that my heritage isn’t all that it seems. It came to my attention that I am half …”

“Faerie?” Ray finished his sentence. His eyes brightened. “I remember! That night those two burglars came, one of them knocked you so hard that there was a subconscious awakening when you came to! Whatever Fae powers you had were unlocked!”

“I would like to be discreet about all this. Don’t mention it to anyone outside of the firehouse.”

“I bet all of New York would love to know that Peckerhead can sprinkle pixie dust and make everyone fly,” Peter smirked. 

_“Tell anyone outside of this room,_ Mister Venkman, and I will publish photographs of you licking your balls while you were a slobbering furry behemoth,” Walter threatened. Peter averted his gaze with a scowl, Peck internally smirked to himself that he won this one. 

Winston clapped Peter on the back, a chuckle escaping his lips. “Feels good to be back, don’t it, Pete?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I first want to thank morganskye for being a wonderful beta and second want to thank you all for reading this! It's been a fun ride, and I'm happy how this turned out! Thank you all again!


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